FT: OpenAI told investors its annualized revenue is near $50 billion, about $20 billion below earlier reports
OpenAI annualised revenues $20bn less than previously signalled
Context
A figure widely used to gauge demand for AI turns out to be far lower than the roughly $70 billion that was reported, and AI stocks fell on the news.
In late September, OpenAI's annualized revenue was widely reported to be approaching $70 billion, a figure that put it in range of Anthropic's reported run rate. On October 8 the Financial Times reported that OpenAI has told investors its annualized revenue is approaching $50 billion. CNBC later said it confirmed a figure of roughly $50 billion at the end of September.
Deep dive
According to the FT, as summarized by TechCrunch, the earlier figure of about $70 billion came from attempts by OpenAI's own investors to produce a direct comparison with Anthropic's annualized revenue. The two companies calculate the metric differently: Anthropic counts sales made by its cloud partners, while OpenAI does not.
CNBC said it confirmed the figure of roughly $50 billion and put the earlier widely reported number at $68 billion, which a person familiar with the matter said included gross revenue from OpenAI's partners. CNBC's source also said OpenAI reported 77% growth in total run rate in its third quarter and 107% run rate growth in its enterprise business.
The report moved markets. CNBC reported that shares of Nvidia, Oracle, CoreWeave and other AI companies sank after the news. It also said OpenAI is in early talks with investors about a possible new funding round of around $30 billion, after closing a $122 billion round in March, and that OpenAI confidentially filed its IPO prospectus in June, with executives signaling a 2027 debut. TechCrunch reported that the IPO, previously rumored for this year, has been pushed to early 2027.
What to expect next
Watch for whether OpenAI publishes its own revenue figures or changes how it reports them, and whether investors revisit valuations that were tied to the higher number.
The gap also matters for comparisons between OpenAI and Anthropic, since the two count partner sales differently. Also watch for comments on demand from companies with large OpenAI commitments, such as Oracle, Nvidia and CoreWeave, and for details of the new funding round CNBC says OpenAI is discussing.