In a lively exchange that felt part financial defense and part tech optimism, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman revealed that the company is generating “well more” than $13 billion in annual revenue, and he wasn’t shy about pushing back against skeptics who question how the AI giant will fund its staggering infrastructure ambitions.
Altman’s remarks came during a recent episode of the Bg2 podcast, where he joined Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella for a discussion hosted by Brad Gerstner, founder and CEO of Altimeter Capital.
The conversation turned spicy when Gerstner raised reports suggesting OpenAI is bringing in roughly $13 billion per year, impressive, but still dwarfed by the company’s reported trillion-dollar spending commitments on computing power over the next decade.
“First of all, we’re doing well more revenue than that,” Altman retorted, sounding more impatient than defensive. Then, in a moment that drew laughter from both Gerstner and Nadella, Altman added, “If you want to sell your shares, I’ll find you a buyer. I think there are a lot of people who would love to buy OpenAI shares.”
Gerster quipped back, “Including myself.”
Altman doubled down, saying that critics who speculate about OpenAI’s financial stability “would be thrilled to buy our shares” if they could. He joked that one of the few times he wishes OpenAI were a public company is when people write “ridiculous ‘OpenAI is about to go out of business’ posts”, so he could invite them to short the stock “and see them get burned.”
A confident, but costly future
Altman’s confidence stands in contrast to the scale of OpenAI’s spending. Reports have suggested that the company’s commitments for computing infrastructure, including massive GPU clusters and AI supercomputers, could exceed $1 trillion over the next ten years.
That’s a jaw-dropping figure, even for Silicon Valley, and raises natural questions about sustainability.
But Altman insists the numbers make sense in context. “We are taking a forward bet that it will continue to grow,” he said, referring not only to ChatGPT’s consumer success but also to OpenAI’s broader ambitions.
These include becoming a leading AI cloud provider, launching consumer AI devices, and using AI to “automate science”, an area he says will create “huge value.”
Sitting beside Altman throughout the interview, Nadella appeared relaxed and amused, perhaps because Microsoft has a front-row seat to OpenAI’s financial performance.
The tech giant has invested heavily in OpenAI and tightly integrated its technology into products like Microsoft Copilot and Azure AI.
According to Nadella, OpenAI has “beaten every business plan” it has shared with Microsoft so far, a notable endorsement from one of the world’s most powerful CEOs.
That’s consistent with Microsoft’s broader bet that AI will reshape enterprise software, cloud computing, and even operating systems.
A recent Goldman Sachs report estimated that AI could add $7 trillion to the global economy over the next decade, and OpenAI remains at the heart of that shift.
The IPO question
When the conversation turned to OpenAI’s potential IPO, Altman was more cautious. While Gerstner speculated that OpenAI could reach $100 billion in revenue by 2028 or 2029, Altman quickly countered with a grin: “How about ‘27?”
Still, he denied reports that an IPO is coming anytime soon. “We don’t have anything that specific,” he clarified.
“I assume it will happen someday, but we don’t have a board decision or a date in mind. It’s just where things will eventually go.”
For now, OpenAI remains a private company, albeit one that’s arguably reshaping the global economy faster than any public rival.
