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Most of the expense can probably be attributed to training and operating their free-tier. They can shut off both of them any day and become insanely profitable. I don't think people realize the sheer magnitude of reaching $3B ARR in under two years. Is there an AI hype? Sure. Is it a crypto-like bubble just where everyone is just peddling BS? No, not even close.



OpenAI has no clear moat though. If they shut off training, everyone would just move over to a competitor.


Training costing billions can't be. Biggest line item would be salaries. Probably.

Also, revenue you can't take home. Doesn't matter how many billions.

It is the profit that matters in the end.


> I don't think people realize the sheer magnitude of reaching $3B ARR in under two years.

These things impress people who fail to digest business fundamentals. Anyone with a suit and a slick powerpoint preso can in theory start a money-incinerating machine. The real measurement is the profit. And before someone makes the "capture the market" comment - this isn't ZIRP anymore. Money costs fuckin money now.




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