OpenAI’s $288B Cloud Contracts Signal Massive Compute Expansion Amid Financial Uncertainty

OpenAI has locked in $288 billion worth of cloud contracts with Microsoft and Amazon, securing an additional 36 gigawatts of compute power. The agreements include $250 billion with Microsoft and $38 billion with Amazon, pushing the company's total committed capacity to levels that won't be fully operational until after 2030. Only a third of this capacity is expected to be deployed by the end of the decade.

HSBC estimates OpenAI's annual data center rental costs could reach $620 billion, with total deal values approaching $1.8 trillion. The staggering financial commitments reveal why CEO Sam Altman has been evasive about funding details—this isn't a revenue-generating machine but a capital-intensive infrastructure play.

The bank projects OpenAI needs 3 billion users by 2030—44% of adults outside China—to justify these investments. Currently at 800 million mostly non-paying users, the company is betting on subscription conversions, agentic AI, and advertising to fill the revenue gap. The scale of these contracts suggests OpenAI is playing a long game where today's cash burn enables tomorrow's AI dominance.