OpenAI Ran Through $3.7 Billion in Q1 2026

OpenAI burned $3.7 billion during the first three months of 2026, The Information reported Tuesday (June 16).

That was more than half the $5.7 billion in revenue the artificial intelligence startup earned during the same period, according to the report, which cited company documents shared with investors.

The company’s cash burn and revenue tripled compared to the first quarter of 2025, which The Information called a sign of how making money from the technology remains a challenge despite strong AI demand.

OpenAI ended the quarter with $73 billion in cash and marketable securities, versus $40 billion at the end of December. This followed the record funding round the company announced in late March, the report said.

If the cash burn stays at the same level as the first quarter, OpenAI won’t need to conduct any near-term fundraising, which could place less pressure on the company to go public sooner, according to the report.

At the same time, it’s possible the company’s cash burn could see a quarterly swing, the report said. OpenAI had forecast it would burn through $25 billion this year and $57 billion in 2027.

OpenAI announced last week that it had filed to go public, although there’s no clear timeline for when its initial public offering (IPO) might happen. CEO Sam Altman reportedly told employees that the stock market listing could happen within the next year.

The company’s lack of profitability is likely to face heavy scrutiny from investors ahead of an IPO, The Information report said.

This week also saw a report from independent journalist and AI industry critic Ed Zitron (verified by the Financial Times) that OpenAI’s losses rose from $5.09 billion to $38.5 billion between 2024 and 2025, while the company’s revenues went from $3.7 billion to $13.07 billion during the same period.

Last week brought the news that OpenAI’s ChatGPT reached 1 billion global monthly active app users in May, making it the fastest-ever application to achieve that scale.

“Google Maps, TikTok, Instagram and YouTube each needed between five and eight years to reach the same threshold,” PYMNTS reported Friday (June 12). “ChatGPT did it in three.”

The growth is in line with PYMNTS Intelligence’s findings on consumer behavior, showing that more than 60% of consumers now start daily planning, learning and shopping inside AI platforms.