The new figure was approaching $50 billion
OpenAI recently told investors its annualized revenue was approaching $50 billion at the end of September, according to financial documents reviewed by the Financial Times. That was about $20 billion below the figure the FT and other outlets had reported late last month using information provided to investors.
The numbers are private-company run-rate measures rather than regularly disclosed public financial results. The FT said OpenAI declined to comment.
The lower figure does not mean OpenAI lost $20 billion in sales. The FT said the gap arose when investors tried to compare OpenAI directly with Anthropic, even though the two companies calculate annualized revenue differently.
Different methods produced different comparisons
Anthropic includes sales made through cloud partners such as Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud, while OpenAI does not include partner-channel sales in its own annualized revenue figure, according to the FT. Investors tried to “gross up” OpenAI's number to create a like-for-like comparison.
Those efforts produced reports that OpenAI's annualized revenue was around $40 billion in July. OpenAI later told backers that the figure had risen more than 70% since July, contributing to reports of a roughly $70 billion September run rate. The newer investor presentation instead showed close to $30 billion for July and a figure approaching $50 billion at the end of September.
Even at the lower level, the FT said the September figure represented rapid growth since the summer. The measure matters to investors because OpenAI has committed to spending hundreds of billions of dollars on computing power and infrastructure while competing with Anthropic, Meta, Google and other AI developers.
AI-linked stocks fell after the report
Technology shares extended earlier losses Thursday after the report. The FT said the Nasdaq 100 was down 1.7%, Nvidia fell 2.9%, Oracle dropped nearly 6% and Micron declined 4%.
MarketWatch also reported that the Nasdaq Composite hit its session low following the FT report, while the PHLX Semiconductor Index sank and shares of Nvidia and other chipmakers turned lower. Oracle, which has made large commitments tied to its OpenAI relationship, also struggled.
