AI Insights: AI News, Eyewitness Accounts OpenAI’s Microsoft Bills Revealed as Higher Than Entire Revenue Streams
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Nov 18, 2025 Leaked documents reveal OpenAI's payments to Microsoft are staggering compared to its revenue, raising questions about financial scalability. The podcast dives into the complexities of their revenue-sharing arrangements and the ambiguity of reported figures. It discusses the implications of OpenAI's spending on inference and training, as well as its shifting partnerships with various cloud providers. Finally, it contemplates the potential consequences if OpenAI operates at a loss for the broader AI industry's valuations.
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Leak Originated From Ed Zitron's Documents
- Jaden cites tech blogger Ed Zitron as the source who surfaced leaked financial documents about OpenAI.
- The documents provided a glimpse into OpenAI's revenue and eye-watering compute costs.
Microsoft's Revenue Share Is Massive
- Leaked documents show Microsoft received $493.8M from OpenAI in 2024 and $865.8M in the first three quarters of 2025.
- Those payments reflect a reported ~20% revenue share tied to Microsoft's large investment in OpenAI.
Revenue Flows Between The Two Firms Are Opaque
- Back-and-forth revenue sharing complicates true earnings because Microsoft also returns revenue from Bing and Azure OpenAI services.
- Public financials don't break out these flows, so leaked figures only provide partial visibility.