A Major Moment at the Goldman Sachs Tech Conference

This week in San Francisco, the excitement was palpable at the Goldman Sachs tech conference, where OpenAI's CFO, Sarah Friar, took to the stage and delivered jaw-dropping insights about the company's explosive growth.

Standing Room Only for AI Insights

The buzz was undeniable; the audience packed the room, with many analysts and investors even spilling into the overflow area to catch every word from Friar—a spectacle of loafers and crossed legs that illustrated the urgency of the moment.

Billion-Dollar Boon for OpenAI

OpenAI is not just in the game, they're dominating with a staggering valuation of $500 billion! With billions in stock being sold by employees, investor enthusiasm is off the charts. Here’s a glimpse of the data highlights shared by Friar.

By the Numbers: OpenAI's Thriving Business

OpenAI's business model reveals striking dynamics: 70% of its operations cater to consumer users while 30% focuses on enterprise solutions. The consumer side boasts an astonishing 700 million weekly users on ChatGPT, with around 4 million developers building on their platform.

Skyrocketing Revenue Projections

The company's revenue is on track to hit nearly $13 billion this year, a whopping fourfold increase from 2024—a true testament to the company’s sustained momentum.

Strategic Spending Fuels Growth

To generate this revenue, OpenAI has invested around $2.6 billion in computing resources. Interestingly, much of this revenue is recurring, prompting Friar to encourage continued spending: 'That tells me to keep spending!'

Revolution in AI Reasoning

The newly integrated model picker technology in GPT-5 is not only attracting more users but is also shifting the landscape of AI reasoning, with reasoning workloads among enterprise users skyrocketing to 50% of total activity—up from just 2% before the newer models.

Dramatic Cost Reductions with GPT-5

In a groundbreaking move, the inference costs have dramatically decreased. GPT-4's cost per token was around $33, but with the new GPT-5 nano, that figure plummeted to just 9 cents per token. Friar likened this to 'Moore's Law on steroids!'

Gaining Ground in the Search Market

OpenAI's share of the search market is now at 12%, climbing from 6% in early 2025, as the overall market expands with more users engaging through conversational interfaces. Interestingly, Friar hinted that OpenAI's actual market share could be even higher than reported!

Global Growth Outpacing the US

In a fascinating revelation about ChatGPT’s user demographics, Friar noted a shift in usage: just three months ago it was 15% US and 85% rest of the world, but today it has dropped to 10% US and surged to 90% globally, highlighting rapid international growth.

Efficiency Boost in OpenAI's Finance Team

On a performance note, many in Friar's finance team are leveraging coding agents and other technology to maximize efficiency, allowing them to operate at just 18% of the size of typical finance teams at similarly sized firms.

These insights from OpenAI not only shine a light on the company's incredible trajectory but also underscore the transformative impact of AI across industries. Analysts and investors alike are now more eager than ever to keep a close watch on OpenAI's next moves!