{"text":[[{"start":9.8,"text":"OpenAI spent $34bn last year as the ChatGPT maker poured money into a race to dominate the fast-growing AI market ahead of a planned stock market listing."}],[{"start":21.3,"text":"Audited financial figures confirmed by people familiar with the matter show the company spent about $19bn on research and development in 2025 and nearly $6bn on sales and marketing, as well as other costs."}],[{"start":36.1,"text":"The spending figures, up sharply from the previous year, offer a rare glimpse into the economics underpinning the AI boom, particularly OpenAI’s lavish outlay to build models, fund data centres and recruit top researchers."}],[{"start":50.400000000000006,"text":"The numbers, which were first shared with the FT by independent journalist Ed Zitron, suggest OpenAI’s revenues are outstripped by rising costs. "}],[{"start":60.800000000000004,"text":"OpenAI booked about $13bn in revenue last year. By the end of 2025 it was generating $2bn in monthly revenue, up from $1bn a quarter at the end of 2024, making it one of the fastest-growing businesses in history."}],[{"start":77.9,"text":"But heavy spending contributed to a nearly eightfold increase in the net loss attributable to OpenAI, which soared from $5bn in 2024 to around $39bn in 2025. A person familiar with the matter said the large majority of that jump reflected a non-cash accounting charge linked to the company’s previous structure rather than its underlying operations."}],[{"start":102.25,"text":"Before OpenAI’s switch late last year to become a public benefit corporation, investors in the company received convertible interest rights rather than conventional equity. Under US accounting rules, those interests were treated as liabilities and periodically revalued as the company’s valuation increased."}],[{"start":121.65,"text":"As OpenAI’s worth rose, the increased value of those investor rights created a roughly $30bn charge, added the person. The charge is not expected to recur following the restructuring, they said."}],[{"start":133.15,"text":"Stripping out the charge and other non-cash expenses, such as stock-based compensation of staff and computing credits from Microsoft, OpenAI’s losses were $8bn, according to the person."}],[{"start":145.05,"text":"The company’s spending has so far been underwritten by investors eager to secure a stake in the AI industry’s future winners. Earlier this year, OpenAI raised $122bn in funding at a valuation of $730bn, excluding the new investment, and is preparing for a public listing that could value the company at more than $1tn."}],[{"start":167.5,"text":"OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman last year warned staff to focus on refining the company’s consumer chatbot as it sought to capture a booming market for AI tools in business."}],[{"start":178.6,"text":"The San Francisco-based group shelved many of its costlier “side quests” shortly afterwards, including the video generation tool Sora."}],[{"start":187.35,"text":"OpenAI confidentially filed paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an IPO earlier this month. Altman has framed the move as a way of giving his company the option of tapping the public markets, adding that remaining private might prove the better course."}],[{"start":202.65,"text":"Other senior OpenAI figures and investors anticipate a public flotation as soon as this autumn. That sets up a race with Anthropic, which also filed paperwork this month after raising $65bn at a $900bn valuation, making it more valuable than OpenAI."}],[{"start":221.70000000000002,"text":"OpenAI declined to comment. "}],[{"start":231.55,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1781586837_7567.mp3"}