A report by The Information revealed that OpenAI is projecting an increase in revenue from approximately $4 billion in 2024 to $174 billion in 2030. While offerings like ChatGPT subscriptions and API access account for most of the company’s revenue, OpenAI reportedly anticipates that future expansion will be driven primarily by the introduction of AI agents and monetization of its free user base.
A significant portion of the projected growth is attributed to AI agents, a new product category that includes OpenAI’s Operator, are designed to carry out tasks autonomously on behalf of users. Revenue from agents is expected to rise from $3 billion in 2025 to $29 billion in 2029 —representing nearly one-quarter of total projected revenue that year. Pricing for individual agents is reportedly set between $2,000 and $20,000 per month. OpenAI also plans to integrate Operator more deeply into ChatGPT.
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OpenAI is also planning to generate revenue from users who use ChatGPT for free. As of now, the company hasn’t confirmed how they are going to monetize their free users. Reported options include affiliate links—such as redirecting users to e-commerce platforms—and traditional advertising. However, affiliate marketing does not appear to be a particular strength of LLM-based research. Monetization efforts are scheduled to begin in 2026. Nevertheless, this user base is projected to bring in $25 billion in revenue, or 20% of the company’s total by 2029.
SoftBank is planning to invest $3 billion annually in OpenAI’s agent products, and the two companies intend to launch a joint venture in Japan under the name Cristal Intelligence. Early partners, including Uber, are already receiving aggregated usage data from OpenAI’s agents.
OpenAI reportedly expects to reach three billion monthly active users by 2030. This would include two billion engaging weekly and 900 million using its products daily. ChatGPT presently has about 500 million weekly users, with fewer than 5% being paying customers, according to The Information.