Part 6/12:

However, concerns were raised over the actual profitability and economic sustainability of this boom. Despite the flurry of deals and user engagement—billions of users across platforms like Google, Netflix, and OpenAI—the revenues generated fall significantly short of the enormous investments made. For instance, OpenAI is projected to generate roughly $13 billion in revenue this year but burn through about $8.5 billion in cash, underscoring the speculative nature of the space.

A key issue is whether consumers and enterprises will be willing to pay for these advanced AI services when most have grown accustomed to free access—such as querying Google or using free-tier AI tools. The challenge is converting user engagement into profitable, cash-flow-positive operations at scale.