OpenAI issues warning: AI competition will cost over $100 billion

In Silicon Valley, numbers are no longer counted in millions, but in billions of dollars . OpenAI has just raised its stakes, sending a clear message to the entire industry: only giants with deep pockets will be able to compete in the race for artificial intelligence .

The company behind ChatGPT has revised its spending projections upwards: from the estimated $35 billion, it will burn $115 billion by 2029. A leap that redefines the rules of the game.

In 2025, while OpenAI plans to spend $17 billion, its rivals will be playing in a different league:

• Meta will invest 70 billion.
• Microsoft will pay out 80 billion.
• Amazon will reach 100 billion.

That year alone, the three will add up to $250 billion, more than double what OpenAI plans to spend in five years.

Here's the difference: tech giants fund their AI expansion with profits from their core businesses (advertising, cloud, e-commerce). OpenAI, on the other hand, relies on funding rounds and outside capital.

The increased spending isn't just due to training increasingly complex models. OpenAI is investing in developing its own chips with Broadcom and building its own data centers , trying to reduce its dependence on rented clouds.

Even so, the costs are exorbitant: this year they will rise from 6.5 billion to 8 billion; in 2027 they will rise to 35 billion; and in 2028 to 45 billion.

While Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon can absorb these costs without flinching, OpenAI faces a critical dilemma : any stumble in adoption or revenue could sink its valuation, which is already hovering between $300 billion and $500 billion.

The Stargate project , a collaboration with Oracle and SoftBank and valued at half a trillion dollars, reflects the magnitude of its stakes. But also its dependence on external allies to survive in the AI ​​financial war.

The narrative has already changed: it's not the one with the best model that wins, but the one who can finance it the longest .

• Microsoft has enterprise distribution.
• Meta connects with 3 billion users.
• Amazon controls the cloud infrastructure.

OpenAI, despite leading in innovation, plays with less muscle.

With its projections, OpenAI sets the minimum entry price to the elite club of artificial intelligence: 100 billion dollars . The conclusion is brutal: if you don't have that capital to lose, don't even bother trying .