OpenAI's Chief Financial Officer (CFO) has suggested that the artificial intelligence (AI) hype cycle is coming to an end, signaling a transition towards more practical applications and sustainable growth within the industry. This shift reflects a growing demand for AI tools that deliver tangible value and integrate seamlessly into daily workflows.
Focus on Practical Adoption
According to a recent blog post, OpenAI's CFO, Sarah Friar, outlined the company's focus on "practical adoption" for the year. This strategy aims to bridge the gap between AI's potential and its actual implementation in various sectors. Friar emphasized the immediate opportunities in healthcare, science, and enterprise, where AI can directly improve outcomes. By prioritizing practical applications, OpenAI seeks to move beyond the hype and demonstrate the real-world benefits of AI.
Jon Knisley, head of AI enablement and value at Abbyy, noted that this emphasis on practical adoption indicates the AI industry is moving towards an accountability phase, where organizations are prioritizing returns on investment. He also noted that the next phase of AI will be won by the companies with the most trustworthy models.
Sustainable Growth and Revenue
OpenAI's focus on practical adoption is closely linked to its pursuit of sustainable growth. The company's annualized revenue run rate reached $20 billion in 2025, a 233.3% increase compared to 2024. While this growth is impressive, it is accompanied by a parallel surge in expenses related to infrastructure, model training, and talent acquisition. To ensure long-term sustainability, OpenAI is exploring strategies to manage its energy consumption and optimize its infrastructure. The OpenAI energy strategy is designed to ensure that infrastructure growth remains sustainable as AI adoption accelerates worldwide. By focusing on energy efficiency, OpenAI aims to reduce risks, enhance predictability, and support durable expansion.
OpenAI's CFO, Sarah Friar, pointed out that the company's revenue growth directly tracks available compute. Compute grew 9.5X from 2023 to 2025 and revenue followed the same curve growing 10X from 2023 to 2025.
To achieve sustainable growth, OpenAI is also focusing on developing a business model that scales with the value of intelligence. This includes workplace subscriptions and usage-based pricing, where costs scale with real work getting done. OpenAI is also expanding its platform business, enabling developers and enterprises to embed intelligence through APIs, where spend grows in direct proportion to outcomes delivered.
Challenges and Opportunities
Despite the positive outlook, OpenAI faces several challenges. Reports suggest that the company is burning through cash at an extraordinary rate, with potential losses of $14 billion in 2026 and up to $40 billion by 2028. This aggressive spending stems from infrastructure expansion, large-scale model training, and the need to secure long-term technological superiority.
One of the key challenges is sourcing high-quality training data. OpenAI is exploring costly licensing agreements and synthetic datasets to overcome this bottleneck. The company is also facing legal disputes and backlash from users over the integration of advertisements into ChatGPT.
Despite these challenges, the AI market is experiencing exponential growth, with projections indicating it will surpass $500 billion by the end of 2025. OpenAI is well-positioned to capitalize on this growth by focusing on practical applications and delivering measurable value to its customers. The company is also exploring new AI agents and diversified product lines to drive future revenue growth.
By prioritizing practical adoption and sustainable growth, OpenAI aims to solidify its position as a leader in the AI industry and ensure that AI benefits all of humanity.
