OpenAI might face a $5 billion loss this year and could exhaust its funds within the next 12 months.

OpenAI is projected to generate between $3 billion and $4.5 billion in revenue for 2024, but it is also expected to incur losses of $5 billion, according to The Information. The primary cause of this significant deficit is the high cost of cloud infrastructure needed to train and run its AI programs, including ChatGPT. 

The company relies heavily on Microsoft for its computing infrastructure, which has been a long-time partner and investor, having invested $1 billion before ChatGPT's launch. OpenAI uses approximately 350,000 Nvidia A100 chips for its AI operations, with 290,000 dedicated to ChatGPT alone. Microsoft rents out these servers to OpenAI at $1.3 per hour, leading to an estimated $4 billion in server costs for 2024.

OpenAI's expenses include $3 billion for training and $1.5 billion for salaries for its 1,500 employees. With revenue from ChatGPT around $2 billion and an additional $1 billion from its large language model access, the company faces a substantial shortfall. To sustain its development, particularly its goal of achieving Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), OpenAI will need to secure additional funding.