Cai Jing Wang·2025-11-01 11:17Core Insights - OpenAI reported a staggering quarterly loss of over $11.5 billion, significantly exceeding market expectations and highlighting the ongoing cash burn in the AI sector [1][4]. Financial Performance - Microsoft's latest financial report revealed that its equity investment in OpenAI resulted in a net profit reduction of $3.1 billion, reflecting a 27% ownership stake in OpenAI, which translates to an estimated quarterly net loss of approximately $11.5 billion for OpenAI [1][2]. - The actual loss could be even higher, with pre-tax losses reported at $4.1 billion, suggesting that the quarterly loss might exceed $12 billion when accounting for a higher ownership stake of 32.5% [3][4]. Revenue Context - OpenAI's revenue for the first half of the year was only $4.3 billion, making the quarterly loss nearly three times its half-year revenue, underscoring the scale of its financial challenges [4]. Investment Implications - Despite OpenAI's massive losses, the impact on Microsoft's overall financial health is limited, as the company reported a net profit of $27.7 billion in the previous quarter, indicating its capacity to absorb such investment losses [5]. - The disclosed figures illustrate the substantial financial burden that large tech companies are shouldering to maintain competitive advantages in the AI space, with Microsoft's investment in OpenAI totaling $11.6 billion out of a committed $13 billion [1][5].