OpenAI IPO Filing Reveals $665B Off-Balance-Sheet Commitments, Q1 Capex Just $46M

According to The Information, which exclusively reviewed OpenAI's confidential IPO registration draft, the company's balance sheet as of March 31, 2026, resembles a lightweight software firm with zero debt and minimal lease liabilities under $750 million. However, first-quarter capital expenditure totaled only $46 million. In reality, OpenAI deferred massive infrastructure costs off-balance-sheet, with future commitments for chips, energy, and data centers reaching $665 billion.

Despite the lean capex profile, OpenAI's first-quarter net loss reached approximately $8.5 billion, while cost of revenue hit $3.5 billion—75 times the reported capital spending. The company's funding structure shows 72% of cost of revenue and 45% of total expenses paid to related parties, with $758 million in revenue from related entities in the quarter settled partly through $488 million in equity, bypassing cash entirely.