Look, I was reading TechCrunch this morning and came across something that actually matters for anyone building AI into their marketing systems.

TechCrunch reported that Microsoft received $493.8M in revenue share from OpenAI in 2024, and $865.8M in just the first three quarters of 2025. Here's the thing - if you do the math on their revenue-share agreement, that means OpenAI brought in roughly $2.5B in 2024 and $4.33B through Q3 2025.

Sounds great, right?

But here's what nobody's talking about: According to the same leaked financials, OpenAI spent $3.8B on inference costs in 2024, and $8.65B in just the first nine months of 2025.

Wait. They're spending MORE on running the models than they're making in revenue?

That's not a pricing problem. That's a fundamental unit economics problem.

Why This Actually Matters for Marketing Teams

When I analyze marketing automation tools for clients at AI Advantage, the first question is always: "What happens to pricing when they scale?"

If OpenAI can't make the math work at $4.3B in revenue, what happens when your marketing team is relying on their API for:

• Email personalization at scale

• Content generation workflows

• Customer segmentation

• Real-time chat support

Altman claims they'll hit $20B annualized revenue by year-end and $100B by 2027. But if inference costs scale linearly with usage (and the leaked numbers suggest they do), you're looking at potential price increases or service degradation.

Here's what this means for your marketing stack: Any tool built primarily on OpenAI's API might face pricing pressure in 2026. That includes a lot of the "AI marketing assistants" agencies are adopting right now.

The Breakdown - What We're Seeing in Real Campaigns

Through our 700+ projects at AI Advantage, we've noticed a pattern:

Tools with their own fine-tuned models (not just API wrappers) tend to have more stable pricing. They've already solved the unit economics problem.

According to TechCrunch's analysis, OpenAI's inference costs are growing faster than revenue. That's the opposite of what you want to see in a SaaS business - or in the foundation of your marketing tech stack.

The tools that worry me: Anything charging $99/month while making 50+ API calls per user per day. The math doesn't work unless they're:

1. Subsidizing with VC money (temporary)

2. Planning a price increase (likely)

3. Built on a cheaper model they'll switch to (possible quality drop)

Reality Check - The Integration Catches

If you've integrated OpenAI-powered tools into your marketing automation:

• Budget for potential 2x-3x price increases in the next 12-18 months

• Have a backup plan for critical workflows (email personalization, content generation)

• Test alternative models (Anthropic, open-source options) before you need them

This doesn't mean abandon AI in marketing. It means be strategic about which tools you depend on.

We're allocating $7K this quarter at AI Advantage to test Claude and open-source alternatives for our client workflows. Not because OpenAI's bad - but because dependency on a single provider with uncertain unit economics is risky.

What to Do About It

My advice? Audit your marketing AI stack this week:

1. List every tool that uses OpenAI's API under the hood

2. Check if they've raised Series A+ funding (runway matters)

3. Identify which workflows are mission-critical

4. Document alternative tools for each one

For new implementations, consider tools that:

• Use multiple model providers (shows they're thinking about this)

• Offer model selection (lets you switch if needed)

• Have strong unit economics (they actually make money)

Start with a small test. Takes 2 hours. Could save you from scrambling when prices jump.

P.S. - Speaking of AI tools that actually work in marketing systems: TechCrunch also reported that Harvey AI (legal tech) hit $100M ARR with 700 enterprise clients. They went from $3B to $8B valuation in 8 months. Why? They solved vertical-specific problems with actual ROI, not generic ChatGPT wrappers. That's the model that works.

Looking for a community of like-minded individuals who are interested in AI and Entrepreneurship? Join our free community here to get started:The AI Advantage Community. Thank you for reading! -Shawn.