OpenAI has spent $12B on inference with Microsoft: Report

"Leaked documents show the company paying more than $12 billion to Microsoft for compute power since 2024 and suggest much weaker revenue than it needs to pay for all those expenses. According to internal Microsoft financial documents obtained by AI skeptic and tech blogger Ed Zitron, OpenAI blew $8.7 billion serving its models, a process called inference, on Azure alone in the first three quarters of 2025. That's more than double the $3.7 billion the AI flag bearer reportedly spent in 2024."

"If the info in these leaks are correct, OpenAI's expense line is even worse than it looks at first blush. The report, we'll note, didn't include details on any training-specific spend at the cloud provider. It also does not mention CoreWeave and Google, which OpenAI also pays for compute capacity. Using these numbers, OpenAI would be on a trajectory to far exceed the $9 billion in cash burn previously reported by the Wall Street Journal earlier this week."

"However, there's reason to believe these documents may not provide a full picture as to OpenAI's financial relationship with its long-time compute partner, Microsoft. According to the Financial Times, which also got a look at the documents, a Microsoft spokesperson said "the numbers aren't quite right," but declined to comment further. Another source familiar with OpenAI suggested to the FT that the figures offered an incomplete accounting of the two company's dealings."

Leaked internal Microsoft financial figures indicate OpenAI paid more than $12 billion to Microsoft for compute since 2024 and spent $8.7 billion on inference on Azure in the first three quarters of 2025. The $8.7 billion figure is more than double the $3.7 billion inference spend in 2024. The leaks exclude any training-specific cloud spend and omit payments to CoreWeave and Google. Using these numbers, OpenAI would be on track to exceed $9 billion in cash burn. Microsoft has questioned the accuracy of the numbers and a source close to OpenAI says the figures offer an incomplete accounting. Cloud credits and accounting treatment could reduce the apparent cash outflow.

Read at Theregister