According to The Information, OpenAI incurred losses of $3.7 billion in the first quarter.

      OpenAI incurred a loss of $3.7 billion in the first quarter of 2026, which was more than half of its revenue of $5.7 billion during the same timeframe, as reported by The Information, referencing documents shared with shareholders. Both figures have tripled compared to the previous year, demonstrating the company's unique situation: it is growing faster than nearly any business in history, yet its expenditures are increasing even more rapidly.

      The tripling of revenue is particularly noteworthy. Earning $5.7 billion in a single quarter is enviable for almost any tech company, and achieving a year-over-year growth of threefold is even more exceptional. However, the challenge lies in the fact that the costs associated with generating that revenue have also risen at the same rate.

      OpenAI has not yet achieved the operational leverage that typically benefits a company of its size, as its product—frontier-model inference—becomes more expensive to deliver with increasing usage.

      On the surface, the company's balance sheet is reassuring, showing over $73 billion in cash and marketable securities at the end of the quarter, an increase from $40 billion at the end of December. This sharp increase results from a substantial funding round announced at the end of March, rather than from profits generated by the business. This distinction is significant, especially when the quarterly losses are measured in billions. While the financial cushion is substantial, it is partly comprised of newly raised funds.

      This funding round closed at an $852 billion valuation, a figure so high that some investors have questioned it in light of the actual revenue. The first quarter figures do not definitively resolve this debate, instead providing support for both sides: proponents of the company highlight the revenue growth while critics point to the large expenses.

      Additionally, OpenAI has indicated that it has confidentially filed for a U.S. initial public offering (IPO), which could occur as soon as September and value the company at up to $1 trillion. Such a valuation would make it one of the largest IPOs in history, putting the kind of quarterly results reported this week under scrutiny from public investors, who tend to demand more transparency regarding profitability than late-stage private investors.

      This trend isn’t new for OpenAI, which has historically spent heavily throughout its growth, betting on the premise that scaling will eventually be beneficial. The company has mentioned plans to spend tens of billions in a single year on computing, research, and infrastructure, stating it does not expect to become profitable until the end of the decade.

      The Q1 loss aligns with this trajectory rather than deviating from it. What stands out is the magnitude of the numbers and the impending public listing that will subject them to a different level of scrutiny. None of the figures in the report were provided directly by OpenAI, and the company did not publicly comment on the specifics. If the numbers are accurate, they depict a business that is experiencing simultaneous growth and losses on a significant scale, just before going public and raising questions about the possibility of curtailing those losses.