The rapid expansion of its flagship product, ChatGPT, saw AI giant OpenAI generate US$4.3 billion (A$6.5 billion) in revenue for the first six months of 2025, up around 16% on 2024.
As of August, the chatbot had 700 million weekly users, four times the number it had at the same time last year.
Due to its research and development costs for developing artificial intelligence and for running ChatGPT, OpenAI told the market it burned $2.5 billion, with costs soaring to $6.7 billion for the division during the first half of 2025.
At the end of the first six months of the year, OpenAI had around $17.5 billion in cash and securities and plans to generate $13 billion in annual revenue this year, while total cash burn for the year is expected to reach $8.5 billion.
Last week, OpenAI announced plans to build a network of five AI data centres over the next three years at a projected cost of $400 billion, while AI chipmaker Nvidia announced plans to invest up to US$100 billion in OpenAI to build additional new data centres.
While OpenAI was valued at $300 billion in March, the company is understood to be in early-stage talks to administer a stock sale that could value the company at $500 billion.
OpenAI makes money from several sources, including ChatGPT subscriptions, API services, enterprise deals, and new commerce features.
ChatGPT alone brought in $2.7 billion in 2024, around 75% of total revenue.
Features like “Instant Checkout”, which lets users buy products through ChatGPT, are helping diversify income, while Global expansion is a growth driver.
Appfigures reported in August that ChatGPT’s mobile app for iOS and Android devices hit US$2 billion in global consumer spending.
The report also highlighted that the revenue was roughly 30 times the combined lifetime spending of ChatGPT’s rivals on mobile, including Claude, Copilot, and Grok.
The analytics firm found that ChatGPT is generating nearly $193 million per month, up from US$25 million last year.
In a move expected to further increase revenue and strengthen its international presence, OpenAI plans to enter the Indian market by the end of 2025, tapping into a growing market for AI solutions.
Despite OpenAI’s success, the AI landscape remains fiercely competitive, with key players like Anthropic and Google DeepMind vying for market share.
Last week, Nvidia announced plans to invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI and supply data-centre chips, which has added to the growing sense of unease among investors that a dangerous financial bubble is developing around AI.
It also raised concerns that the revenues and earnings that underpin the valuations of both public and private firms in the crypto sector do not add up.
Nvidia’s deal followed its previous announcement to commit a $5 billion investment into rival Intel.
The tech company also revealed its intentions to invest around $500 million in self-driving car startup Wayve and a €500 million (A$888 million) investment in UK cloud provider Nscale.
