Inside the Leaked OpenAI Financials That Sent SoftBank Stock Tumbling

The spending was dominated by research and development. Of the $34 billion in total costs, $19.18 billion went to R&D, with a substantial portion — about $10.59 billion — paid to Microsoft for cloud infrastructure . Cost of revenue, which includes the direct expense of running AI models in data centers, accounted for $7.5 billion. Sales and marketing added another $5.73 billion .

At the bottom line, the operating loss reached $20.92 billion, up from $5.8 billion in 2024. The net loss attributable to OpenAI ballooned to $38.53 billion — a nearly 8x increase from the prior year . A one-time restructuring charge related to OpenAI's transition to a for-profit entity contributed significantly to the net loss figure, but even excluding those non-cash items, the company posted a loss of around $8 billion .

A Make-or-Break Year Ahead

The 2025 results are only part of a much larger financial picture that extends for years. Internal projections cited in earlier reporting suggest OpenAI will burn through $17 billion in cash during 2026, up from an estimated $9 billion in 2025 . Cumulative losses are projected to reach $115 billion through 2029, with profitability not expected until sometime in the following decade .

While the March 2025 SoftBank-led $40 billion Series F at a $300 billion valuation remains the largest private funding round in history, the company is reportedly seeking another $100 billion in funding to sustain its trajectory .

SoftBank's Concentrated Exposure

SoftBank's total financial exposure to OpenAI now comfortably exceeds $60 billion, and the leaked documents highlight several risks that concern investors.

Direct investment risk: SoftBank has invested over $30 billion directly in OpenAI and recorded approximately $45 billion in investment gains from the stake in the fiscal year ending March 2026 . The Vision Fund's $46 billion annual profit was "mainly driven" by the OpenAI position, meaning any revaluation or impairment of that stake would disproportionately hit SoftBank's consolidated results .

Margin loan obstacles: SoftBank's attempt to secure a margin loan of at least $6 billion backed by its OpenAI shares encountered obstacles, Bloomberg News reported in early June . The difficulty in using OpenAI equity as collateral signals that lenders are already pricing in significant downside risk, limiting SoftBank's ability to monetize or leverage its position .

Customer concentration: SoftBank accounted for $867 million of OpenAI's 2025 revenue — roughly 6.6% of total sales — making the Japanese group one of OpenAI's most important customers as well as its biggest investor .

No near-term profitability: With costs running $21 billion above revenue in 2025 and compute spending still accelerating, OpenAI is far from any form of breakeven. The cash dependency leaves SoftBank's paper gains vulnerable if OpenAI must raise additional capital on less favorable terms .

The convergence of these factors — a burn rate among the fastest of any startup in history, a margin loan roadblock, a concentrated Vision Fund, and a profitability timeline stretching into the 2030s — explains why investors reassessed SoftBank's shares so swiftly when the leaked financials broke.