The scary numbers: This is how much money AI companies have to make to be profitable and avoid a bubble – Switzer Daily

You’ve seen the headlines about multi-billion dollar AI deals for everything from software to components. All of this is fueling speculation about a possible AI bubble. So how much do the companies at the center of these speculations have to earn so that the whole thing doesn’t collapse? The answer is astronomical.

Here is a brief outline of the problem. In the first six months of 2025 alone, OpenAI – maker of ChatGPT – burned through $2.5 billion. That’s a huge number. But what’s even bigger is the fact that CEO Sam Altman announced various deals worth nearly $1 trillion during the same period. The technology sector, and every sector that interacts with it, is making a huge bet that AI will become not just a functional, but also a profitable part of everyday life.

The companies that have signed on different lines in the last 12 months all need something to show for all the money they’ve spent. And considering how many people aren’t paying for AI right now (given the fact that it…