# OpenAI projects $278 billion in cumulative cash burn through 2030

_Published Monday, September 21, 2026 at 1:09 PM EDT · AI, Products · Latest · Tier 1 — Major_

![OpenAI — Primary](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/bqKbbbB3ZdRgDH7Pz95FKT-1920-80.jpg)

OpenAI projects cumulative negative free cash flow of $278 billion from 2026 through 2030 as infrastructure spending outpaces revenue growth, according to a presentation reviewed by the Financial Times. The company forecasts $840 billion in total revenue and roughly $856 billion in compute and infrastructure spending over that period, plus $262 billion in other spending.

The reported model puts annual revenue at $36 billion in 2026 and $350 billion in 2030. It improves on a May projection of $305 billion in cumulative negative free cash flow, but indicates that $122 billion raised in March could be depleted in 2028. These are internal projections, not realized results.

## Sources

- [Tom's Hardware](https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/artificial-intelligence/openai-projections-point-to-a-massive-usd278-billion-cash-burn-through-2030-that-exceeds-the-national-budgets-of-indonesia-and-norway-usd856-billion-compute-tab-outpaces-tenfold-revenue-surge)

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Canonical: https://techandbusiness.org/newswire/6tCzyPl3OiKj3fZD8CDLYo
Published: 2026-09-21T17:09:40.896Z
Story chronology: 2026-09-21T12:00:00.000Z
Retrieved: 2026-09-21T19:21:40.175Z
Publisher: Tech & Business (techandbusiness.org)