OpenAI annualised revenue closer to US$50 billion than reported US$70 billion: FT

OPENAI’s annualised revenue is about US$20 billion less than has been previously signalled, the Financial Times reported on Thursday (Oct 8), citing financial documents shared with investors.

OpenAI did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Reuters could not independently verify the report.

The company has recently told investors its revenue was approaching US$50 billion on an annualised basis at the end of September, the report said, far short of the US$70 billion reported by media outlets, including Reuters, late in September

The discrepancy arose from attempts by OpenAI’s own investors to produce a direct comparison with Anthropic’s annualised revenue, the FT reported, citing a person with knowledge of the matter

The pair calculate the figure in different ways, with Anthropic including the revenue from sales via cloud partners such as AWS and Google Cloud, while OpenAI does not, the Financial Times report said

Annualised revenue run rate is a sometimes misleading sales metric, which often involves multiplying one month’s revenue by 12, but it has nonetheless become a popular metric commonly used by fast-growing Silicon Valley startups

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OpenAI and its rival Anthropic are potentially preparing to go public, which could give Wall Street a clearer view of their finances, including the sustainability of their rapid revenue growth due to the AI boom. REUTERS