OpenAI CFO Reveals Revenue Soared to $20B in 2025, Tests Ads and Revenue-Sharing for New Monetization

OpenAI's Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar has publicly disclosed key financial figures for the first time, revealing the company's revenue reached approximately $20 billion in 2025, a tenfold increase from 2023. To sustain its exponential compute power growth, the AI leader is testing ads for free ChatGPT users in the U.S. and developing new revenue-sharing business models. The disclosed data shows compute power investment grew from 0.2 gigawatts in 2023 to 1.9 gigawatts in 2025, with revenue climbing from $2 billion to $20 billion over the same three-year period. Friar stated the current constraint is insufficient compute, not demand. To fund this growth beyond subscriptions, OpenAI is introducing contextual ads and exploring "licensing shares," a model where it takes a cut of a client's commercial success, such as from a new drug developed using its AI.