OpenAI Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar stated in a blog post on Sunday that the company is positioning 2026 as the year for "practical applications."
Friar wrote, "The urgent priority is to bridge the gap between what AI can currently achieve and how individuals, businesses, and nations use AI in their daily lives. The opportunity is immense and pressing, especially in healthcare, science, and enterprise, as better intelligence directly translates into better outcomes."
In the blog, Friar outlined OpenAI's strategy for commercializing its services, such as ChatGPT, while ensuring the necessary computational power for these products. She indicated that OpenAI's revenue is directly tied to the availability of its technological infrastructure. Friar pointed out that OpenAI's computing capacity grew from 0.2 gigawatts in 2023 to approximately 1.9 gigawatts in 2025, while the company's annual revenue similarly surged from $2 billion in 2023 to over $20 billion last year.
She wrote, "Rapid growth at this scale is unprecedented. And we firmly believe that investing more computational resources during these periods will accelerate customer adoption and profitability."
Friar's blog comes as the focus on artificial intelligence by OpenAI and the tech industry faces scrutiny. The massive investments required for building data centers and securing the energy and components for this cutting-edge technology have yet to yield significant revenue returns for investors.
Among these significant deals is an agreement reached between OpenAI and NVIDIA last September. Under this agreement, NVIDIA indicated it would commit $100 billion to support the AI startup, helping it build and deploy at least 10 gigawatts of NVIDIA systems.
A "gigawatt" is a unit of power, and analysis suggests that 10 gigawatts is roughly equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of 8 million US households.
However, in November, NVIDIA informed investors that its agreement with OpenAI was "not guaranteed" to proceed smoothly from the announcement stage to a formal contract.
Friar wrote on Sunday, "Achieving world-class computational capability requires commitments made years in advance, and the development process is not without its challenges." She also noted that this system requires discipline.
Friar stated that three years ago, OpenAI relied on just one computing supplier, but it has now established partnerships with multiple suppliers, creating a diversified ecosystem.
She wrote, "In a market where 'who can scale depends on who can access computing resources,' we are able to plan, finance, and deploy capabilities with confidence."
Friar expressed that OpenAI's business model should align with and evolve alongside the services it provides.
She wrote, "As intelligence integrates into scientific research, drug development, energy systems, and financial modeling, new economic models will emerge."
This blog post follows OpenAI's announcement last week that it plans to begin testing ads for some ChatGPT users in the US. The company is preparing for a potential public listing this year.
"Monetization should integrate naturally with the user experience," Friar wrote. "If it doesn't add value, it shouldn't exist."
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