OpenAI’s Potential $60 Billion Annual Payout: A Realistic Scenario?

Oracle CEO Clay Magouyrk expressed strong confidence in OpenAI’s ability to meet its financial obligations for the vast cloud infrastructure it utilizes. Magouyrk, who shares the CEO role with Mike Sicilia, addressed concerns about OpenAI’s substantial cloud spending in an interview with CNBC’s David Faber at Oracle’s AI World conference in Las Vegas.

When asked if OpenAI could realistically afford $60 billion annually for cloud resources, Magouyrk responded emphatically, “Of course.” This statement follows OpenAI’s five-year, $300 billion-plus agreement with Oracle, revealed in September. The partnership underscores the escalating demand for high-performance computing to support the training and deployment of increasingly complex AI models.

“Look at the rate at which they’ve grown to, you know, almost a billion users. That’s just unheard of,” Magouyrk stated, highlighting OpenAI’s exponential user growth as a key indicator of its financial viability.

OpenAI disclosed last week that its flagship ChatGPT chatbot boasts 800 million weekly active users, a remarkable feat achieved in under three years since its public launch. While OpenAI recorded a $5 billion net loss in 2024, this figure reflects the company’s significant investments in research, development, and infrastructure to maintain its competitive edge in the rapidly evolving AI landscape.

Beyond infrastructure, Oracle is actively integrating OpenAI’s AI models into its healthcare solutions. Mike Sicilia noted that Oracle has begun incorporating these models into patient portals for accessing electronic health records, a move that builds upon Oracle’s 2022 acquisition of Cerner, a major player in the EHR market.

“I’ve seen the results, and I really do think that they’re going to have a dramatic impact on industries, on enterprises of all types,” Sicilia said, emphasizing the transformative potential of OpenAI’s technology across various sectors.

OpenAI currently leverages Nvidia GPUs through Oracle, alongside resources from CoreWeave, Google, and Microsoft, to power its AI models. However, the company is also pursuing custom hardware solutions, collaborating with Broadcom to develop a specialized AI processor. Broadcom and OpenAI announced a joint deployment of 10 gigawatts of these new chips, signaling a significant commitment to long-term infrastructure demands and potential cost optimization.

The significant power requirements for this advanced infrastructure are not being overlooked. “I think it’s a factor of time, not a factor of if we’ll have enough power,” Sicilia commented, acknowledging the challenges of securing sufficient energy resources to sustain the expansion of AI capabilities.

Investors reacted positively to the news, with Oracle shares rising 5% on Monday. The stock has experienced a robust 84% gain this year, propelling Oracle’s market capitalization to nearly $900 billion, reflecting the growing confidence in the company’s strategic positioning in the AI-driven technology landscape.