OpenAI's cash burn will be one of the big bubble questions of 2026

why does the article used words like burn and incinerate, implying that OpenAI is somehow making money disappear or something? They’re spending it; someone is profiting here, even if it’s not OpenAI. Is it all Nvidia?

Re: OpenAI's cash burn will be one of the big bubble questions of 2026

#5

Post by andsoitis » Tue, Dec 30, 2025, 10:37 PM UTC

In a parallel universe, governments invest in the compute/datacenters (read: infra), and let model makers compete on the same playing field.

Re: OpenAI's cash burn will be one of the big bubble questions of 2026

#6

Post by zaphar » Tue, Dec 30, 2025, 10:38 PM UTC

laweijfmvo wrote: post #4

why does the article used words like burn and incinerate, implying that OpenAI is somehow making money disappear or something? They’re spending it; someone is profiting here, even if it’s not OpenAI. Is it all Nvidia?

Because that's normal language idioms in financial analysis reporting?

Re: OpenAI's cash burn will be one of the big bubble questions of 2026

#7

Post by websiteapi » Tue, Dec 30, 2025, 10:39 PM UTC

andsoitis wrote: post #5

In a parallel universe, governments invest in the compute/datacenters (read: infra), and let model makers compete on the same playing field.

why would they do that? not to mention governments are already doing that indirectly by taking equity stakes in some of the companies.

Re: OpenAI's cash burn will be one of the big bubble questions of 2026

#8

Post by popalchemist » Tue, Dec 30, 2025, 10:42 PM UTC

laweijfmvo wrote: post #4

why does the article used words like burn and incinerate, implying that OpenAI is somehow making money disappear or something? They’re spending it; someone is profiting here, even if it’s not OpenAI. Is it all Nvidia?

Because typically one expect a return on investment with that level of spending. Not only have they run at a loss for years, their spending is expected to increase, with no path to profitability in sight.

Re: OpenAI's cash burn will be one of the big bubble questions of 2026

#9

Post by simonw » Tue, Dec 30, 2025, 10:43 PM UTC

andsoitis wrote: post #5

In a parallel universe, governments invest in the compute/datacenters (read: infra), and let model makers compete on the same playing field.

If that did happen, how would the government then issue those resources?

OpenAI ask for 1m GPUs for a month, Anthropic ask for 2m, the government data center only has 500,000, and a new startup wants 750,000 as well.

Do you hand them out to the most convincing pitch? Hopefully not to the biggest donor to your campaign.

Now the most successful AI lab is the one that's best at pitching the government for additional resources.

UPDATE: See comment below for the answer to this question: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46438390#46439067

Re: OpenAI's cash burn will be one of the big bubble questions of 2026

#10

Post by wat10000 » Tue, Dec 30, 2025, 10:43 PM UTC

andsoitis wrote: post #5

In a parallel universe, governments invest in the compute/datacenters (read: infra), and let model makers compete on the same playing field.

That seems like a terrible idea. Data centers aren’t a natural monopoly. Regulate the externalities and let it flourish.