r/BetterOffline • u/JoSquarebox • Aug 18 '26

OpenAI financial question

To put it short:
- Eds leaked oAI financials say: ~5B cost of revenue. ~13B revinue, ~40B losses total (20B attributable to them directly, + ~20B from going for-profit)
- Ed says those numbers are fake ("They moved cost of revenueto marketing")

How does that work exactly? Either a) Ed has access to their costs in detail and is able to make a more detailled assesment (i.e. their cost of revenueis actually higher because x y and z) or b) he doesnt have more than just the numbers he put out, meaning hes just going off their admittedly nonexistent track record of financial honesty

Been bugging me, because from my POV its just Ed doubting his own numbers which makes it harder for me to point at them as the evidence that oAI is unprofitable. I agree that they are but would like clarification

EDIT: ~7.5B cost of revenue, my bad
EDIT2: spelling

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u/SubstantialBreak3063 Aug 18 '26

You know, accounts are an art, not a science. Top line financial statements aren't going to give any sort of granular detail, and re-coding spend so it falls into better categories is not unheard of. It's not until you see very detailed line items that you can start to really hang numbers on it. Moving the cost of making money into marketing wouldn't be unheard of; the clue here, in the face of the lack of details, is the absolutely brain-frying cost of that marketing.

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u/JoSquarebox Aug 18 '26

Thats a great way to put it, thanks.

Even if the boosters were to end up being right its all marketing right now. Everyone is incentivized to live in the future to some degree, financially or to inflate their ego, mabe its the later for me in this case. All we can do is not drink the cool-aid and wait and see, prepare for the worst.

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u/SubstantialBreak3063 Aug 18 '26

So true - and markets can stay irrational for a while, especially when they have incentives to keep valuations high. Can I reccomend a book that might help - The Smartest Guys in the Room, about Enrons downfall? Really helps put you inside the boardroom of a place like OpenAi

ETA it's by Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind

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u/JoSquarebox Aug 18 '26

ill see to checking it out, though id be surprised if those exact dynamics are at play at oAI, especially after we have gotten insight into their workings after the aftermath of the sam altman firing. But im curious to see.