“OpenAI currently spends $2.35 to make $1, and Microsoft CFO Amy Hood said that OpenAI would cut into Microsoft's profits this October, losing it a remarkable $1.5 billion, "mainly because of an expected loss from OpenAI" according to CNBC.”
Our reading, the sentence that was checked:
OpenAI currently spends $2.35 for every $1 of revenue it makes.
Assessment: Supported Evidence as of
Where and when Ed Zitron wrote it
Where's Your Ed At, Godot Isn't Making it, paragraph 21.
- Said
- Source observed
- live page, full text, public
- Evidence as of
- the cutoff for this assessment
- Assessment recorded
- assessment wyea-godot-isnt-making-it-254737-a1
We recorded 33 claims from this post. See every claim from this post.
The wording above is the version this site observed on 2026-10-28. The source may have been edited after 2024-12-03. This page does not claim the wording was captured then.
What the claim commits to
- Kind
- Observation
- Deadline, as the speaker wrote it
- None stated. This site does not add one.
- Deadline state when assessed
- No horizon
- Deadline state on 2026-10-29
- No horizon (the release’s reference date)
From the speaker
- OpenAI
- currently spends $2.35 to make $1
Our interpretation
- Assess the OpenAI ratio, not the separate statement about Microsoft's losses.
- The linked explanation derives the ratio from press estimates of calendar-2024 revenue and losses. Assess it on that estimate basis.
- Read 'spends' as expenses implied by the reported loss calculation, not marginal inference costs or a cash-flow measure.
- Treat $2.35 as rounded to the nearest cent. The full-year flow classification does not mean these estimates were already realized when published.
Counts as supported if: The contemporaneous 2024 revenue and loss estimates imply expenses per dollar of revenue that round to $2.35.
Counts as contradicted if: Comparable estimates on the same period and accounting scope imply a materially different ratio.
Retrospective: these criteria were written after the outcome was public.
Current assessment
Was it true for the period described?
Outcome: Supported
The dated evidence matches what the claim committed to, under the criteria frozen before grading.
Scored on a plain reading. The speaker named no measure for this claim, so it was judged on the reading an informed reader would take, stated below under our interpretation. Both reviews had to find that reading fair.
- Evidence as of
- Deadline state when assessed
- No horizon
- Assessment recorded
- Policy version
- 2026-10-28.7
Rationale
The linked calculation uses 2024 press estimates. CNBC independently confirmed approximately $5 billion in losses against $3.7 billion in revenue. Adding the loss to revenue and dividing by revenue gives $2.35 after rounding. This supports the estimate Zitron was citing, with its accounting exclusions; it does not establish an audited total-spending ratio.
Limitations
- The figures were projections when published.
- The reported loss calculation excludes equity-based compensation and other incompletely explained expenses.
- The result depends on the linked estimate basis. An exact claim about current cash spending would remain unresolved.
Evidence (1 item)
Supports the claim: CNBC,
$3.7 billion in revenue
Why it matters here: These estimates imply $8.7 billion of expenses and a ratio rounding to $2.35. CNBC also reports exclusions, including equity-based compensation, so this supports the cited estimate rather than comprehensive accounting expenses.
- Publisher
- CNBC
- Kind of source
- News report
- Measures
- OpenAI, Estimated expenses implied by reported losses divided by revenue, USD USD of expenses per USD of revenue, estimate, 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31
- Arithmetic
- (3.7 + 5.0) / 3.7 = 2.351351... (inputs: Estimated calendar-2024 revenue: USD 3.7 billion; Estimated calendar-2024 losses: approximately USD 5 billion; Nearest USD 0.01 of expenses per USD 1 of revenue: USD 2.35.)
- Describes events of
- Public from
Where it was said (1)
Said once in the sources this register covers.
: Where's Your Ed At, Godot Isn't Making it
OpenAI currently spends $2.35 to make $1, and Microsoft CFO Amy Hood said that OpenAI would cut into Microsoft's profits this October, losing it a remarkable $1.5 billion, "mainly because of an expected loss from OpenAI" according to CNBC.
- Where
- paragraph 21
- Published
- 2024-12-03
- Source observed
- , live page
- Access
- full text, public
History
Assessment versions
- Assessment wyea-godot-isnt-making-it-254737-a1: Current. Outcome: Supported. Evidence as of 2026-10-28. Public date not recorded.
Recorded events
Assessment publishedBy this site
First assessment published after both reviews and the final-text check passed.