OpenAI Forecasts $278 Billion Cash Burn by 2030 as AI Spending Soars

TLDR

• OpenAI expects negative free cash flow of about $278 billion from 2026 through 2030.
• The company projects $856 billion in spending on computing power and infrastructure.
• Revenue is forecast to rise from $36 billion in 2026 to $350 billion in 2030.
• OpenAI reportedly raised $122 billion in March at an $852 billion valuation.
• The company has held funding talks that could value it at about $1.2 trillion.

OpenAI expects to burn through about $278 billion in cash between 2026 and 2030 as spending on computing power and infrastructure continues to rise, according to the Financial Times.

The Financial Times cited a company presentation that detailed OpenAI’s financial forecasts through the end of the decade. Reuters reported the figures on September 18.

OpenAI projects $278 billion in negative free cash flow through 2030, with $856B in compute and infrastructure spending, per FT.

OpenAI expects revenue to grow from $36B this year to $350B in 2030, totaling roughly $840B through the end of the decade.

Its $122B cash raise from… pic.twitter.com/lnXX5kmtik

— Wall St Engine (@wallstengine) September 19, 2026

The projection comes as the ChatGPT maker continues to raise large amounts of capital to support the development and operation of its artificial intelligence models.

OpenAI expects negative free cash flow of $278 billion across the five-year period from 2026 through 2030, according to the report.

OpenAI Projects $856 Billion in Computing Costs

Computing power and infrastructure are expected to remain OpenAI’s largest expense.

The company projects that spending in this area will reach about $856 billion by the end of 2030, according to the Financial Times.

That spending includes the computing capacity required to train increasingly large AI models as well as the infrastructure needed to serve users of ChatGPT and other OpenAI products.

The company also expects revenue to grow quickly during the same period.

OpenAI is forecasting revenue of about $36 billion in 2026, rising to $350 billion annually by 2030.

Across the five years through 2030, the company expects to generate around $840 billion in cumulative revenue.

Despite that growth, spending is expected to remain higher than the cash generated by the business, producing the projected negative free cash flow.

OpenAI Seeks More Funding

OpenAI raised about $122 billion in March at a valuation of $852 billion, according to the Financial Times.

The company could exhaust that capital by 2028 if spending continues at the projected rate, increasing the need for further financing.

OpenAI has already held discussions with investors about another funding round, according to earlier Financial Times reporting cited by Reuters.

Some of those discussions could value the company at about $1.2 trillion. That would place OpenAI’s valuation roughly 41% above the level reported in its March fundraising round.

The company also filed confidentially for an initial public offering in June.

However, CEO Sam Altman said on Saturday that OpenAI would not go public in 2026, citing concerns related to AI safety.

The decision leaves private funding as a key source of capital while OpenAI continues its large infrastructure buildout.

OpenAI had not responded to Reuters’ request for comment outside regular business hours when the report was published. The company’s latest internal projections point to $278 billion in negative free cash flow through 2030 while annual revenue is forecast to reach $350 billion.