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  • OpenAI drafts 5-year plan for $1T+ spend, hits $13B ARR with 70% from ChatGPT users

Oct 15, 2025

OpenAI drafts 5-year plan for $1T+ spend, hits $13B ARR with 70% from ChatGPT users

Bay Area Times
Bay Area Times
OpenAI drafts 5-year plan for $1T+ spend, hits $13B ARR with 70% from ChatGPT users

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Top stories today:

  1. OpenAI drafts 5-year plan for $1T+ spend, hits $13B ARR
  2. Trump re-escalates China tensions with cooking oil trade threat
  3. Powell signals another rate cut as weak hiring pressures unemployment
  4. Goldman Q3 revenue +20% YoY to $15.2B, 3rd best ever
  5. Oura raises $900M at $11B valuation as smart ring sales cross 5.5M
  6. ASML +29% YTD as AI boom fuels chip machine demand

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0. Data and calendar

All values as of 6 AM ET / 3 AM PT, other than S&P500 and NASDAQ close (4 PM ET / 1 PM PT).

All times are ET.

Listen to our AI-generated podcast summarizing today’s newsletter (beware of hallucinations):

1. OpenAI drafts 5-year plan for $1T+ spend, hits $13B ARR with 70% from ChatGPT users

Large tech companies are tying their fortunes to OpenAI:

FT.

  • OpenAI has already committed to over 26GW of capacity from Oracle, NVIDIA, AMD, and Broadcom.

  • ChatGPT has 800M+ users, but only ~5% are paying subscribers.

  • OpenAI reportedly aims to double its paying user base.

  • Deals to serve governments and enterprises with custom AI products are in the works.

  • New revenue streams are planned from Sora and AI agents.

  • OpenAI is also exploring advertising in its AI products.

  • ~$8B was OpenAI’s operating loss in H1 despite revenue seeing 2x YoY growth.

Relatedly, Sam Altman said ChatGPT will get an adult-only ā€˜erotica’ mode once age verification rolls out in Dec.

X: Sam Altman.

  • A more human-like, customizable ChatGPT personality inspired by 4o is set to roll out in the coming weeks, Altman revealed.

  • The new features could help ChatGPT attract more users and improve monetization.

  • Meanwhile, OpenAI has formed an expert council to bolster safety measures after FTC inquiry.

2. Trump re-escalates China tensions with cooking oil trade threat

The U.S. imported $1.2B in cooking oil from China in 2024, while exporting $12.8B in soybeans:

Bloomberg.

  • ā€œ[W]e can easily produce Cooking Oil ourselves, we don’t need to purchase it from China,ā€ Trump posted on social media.

  • China has been avoiding U.S. soybeans despite being the world’s top buyer.

  • The S&P 500 turned negative (-0.2%) after Trump’s comments reignited tensions with China.

  • Shares of Bunge Global and Archer-Daniels-Midland, the world’s top oilseed processors, jumped on the news.

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4. Powell signals another rate cut as weak hiring pressures unemployment

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