Just when you think OpenAI might take a breath, the company blows past another jaw-dropping milestone.
According to The Information and The New York Times, OpenAI is now tracking between $12 billion and $13 billion in annualized revenue. That’s nearly triple its growth rate from earlier this year, and translates to a staggering $1 billion in monthly revenue.
Let that sink in.
To put it mildly, the numbers are absurd. But what’s even more eye-popping is what they signal: that OpenAI is aggressively transforming from a research darling into a full-blown tech titan, with all the burn, speed, and strategic ambition that comes with it.
What does this mean for the company's trajectory? I broke it all down with Marketing AI Institute founder and CEO Paul Roetzer on Episode 160 of The Artificial Intelligence Show.
The Billion-Dollar Month Club
OpenAI’s trajectory looks less like a hockey stick and more like a rocket ship.
Since the start of the year, the company has added 200 million weekly active users, bringing its total to 700 million. It’s also jumped from 3 million to 5 million paying business customers in just a few short weeks.
those are crazy numbers and that's just probably the surface of where they're going.
Behind that surge? A blend of blistering consumer demand and rapidly accelerating enterprise adoption.
And all this growth is coming at a steep price: OpenAI now expects to burn $8 billion this year, which is up from earlier projections of $1 billion. A major portion of that is going into compute: chips, data centers, and partnerships like the one with SoftBank to build the next generation of AI infrastructure.
"I don't think that they expect to be profitable any time soon," says Roetzer.
GPT-5 on Deck
Adding fuel to the fire is the expectation that GPT-5 is imminent, possibly as soon as this week. While OpenAI hasn’t officially confirmed a launch date, CEO Sam Altman isn’t exactly hiding it either.
In a tweet earlier this week, Altman shared a ChatGPT screenshot where GPT-5 was clearly visible as the selected model, hinting not-so-subtly that internal testing is underway. He also teased that “a ton of stuff” is coming in the next few months, including “new models, products, features, and more.”
we have a ton of stuff to launch over the next couple of months--new models, products, features, and more.
— Sam Altman (@sama) August 2, 2025
please bear with us through some probable hiccups and capacity crunches. although it may be slightly choppy, we think you'll really love what we've created for you!
Translation: Buckle up.
OpenAI’s evolution isn’t just about models. The company has started rolling out features that let users create and edit presentations and spreadsheets directly within ChatGPT.
That may sound simple. But it positions OpenAI to compete directly with Microsoft and Google in the productivity suite arena. We’re seeing a clear shift from ChatGPT as a “clever assistant” to ChatGPT as an everyday work tool.
Taken together, OpenAI’s recent moves paint a picture of a company operating with unmatched velocity...while the rest of us just try to keep up.
Mike Kaput
As Chief Content Officer, Mike Kaput uses content marketing, marketing strategy, and marketing technology to grow and scale traffic, leads, and revenue for Marketing AI Institute. Mike is the co-author of Marketing Artificial Intelligence: AI, Marketing and the Future of Business (Matt Holt Books, 2022). See Mike's full bio.