OpenAI has told investors that its annualized revenue reached nearly $50 billion in September, a figure below earlier communications that suggested the company was approaching a $70 billion revenue run rate.
The difference has raised questions about OpenAI’s financial performance and how the company calculates its revenue. However, the change does not necessarily mean that OpenAI lost $20 billion in revenue. Instead, the gap largely reflects a change in how the company presents its financial figures to make them easier to compare with those of rival Anthropic, according to Reuters.
The distinction matters as OpenAI continues to expand its AI business and competes with other companies for enterprise customers, developers and investment.
Why OpenAI’s Revenue Figure Dropped From $70 Billion to $50 Billion
The difference between the two figures appears to come mainly from how revenue is calculated and reported. Earlier communications indicated that OpenAI’s annualized revenue run rate was approaching $70 billion. Its latest figure, shared with investors, put September’s annualized revenue at nearly $50 billion.
According to Reuters, the lower figure largely reflects an effort to make OpenAI’s revenue more directly comparable with Anthropic’s accounting treatment. Companies can present revenue figures differently depending on how they classify certain payments, business activities and costs.
As a result, two companies with similar businesses may report figures that are not directly comparable unless they use consistent methods. OpenAI’s revised figure therefore provides a different basis for comparison. It should not automatically be interpreted as evidence that the company’s business has shrunk by the difference between the two estimates.
How OpenAI and Anthropic Calculate Revenue From Cloud Deals
The main difference comes from how OpenAI and Anthropic count revenue earned through cloud partners. OpenAI sells its AI services through platforms operated by companies such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google Cloud. Under its accounting approach, OpenAI records its share of certain sales made through these partners.
Anthropic, which develops the Claude AI models, uses a different approach. It includes the full value of certain cloud-partner sales in its revenue and records the partners’ share as an expense.
For example, if a customer pays $100 for an AI service through a cloud platform, one company might report the full $100 as revenue and record the platform’s payment separately as an expense. Another might record only its share of the transaction as revenue.
This difference can make one company’s reported revenue appear higher than another’s, even when the underlying transactions are similar.
According to Reuters’ report, Anthropic pays cloud partners about 16% of every dollar earned through these arrangements. Sales through such partnerships accounted for around half of Anthropic’s revenue last year.
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What Is Annualized Revenue?
Annualized revenue is an estimate of how much a company would earn over a full year if its current revenue pace continued. For example, if a business generates $4 billion in revenue in one month, multiplying that amount by 12 produces an annualized revenue run rate of $48 billion.
However, this figure is not the same as the revenue a company actually earns over a year. Sales can rise or fall, and the estimate may change as customer demand, pricing and business conditions shift.
This is particularly important for AI companies, which are expanding quickly and spending heavily on computing infrastructure. Investors therefore need to look beyond annualized revenue when assessing a company’s financial position. Actual revenue, operating costs, cash flow and profitability also help show whether its business model is sustainable.
OpenAI’s Revenue Growth Continues Despite the $20 Billion Gap
Despite the difference between the two estimates, OpenAI’s reported revenue figures point to significant growth over the past two years. According to Reuters, OpenAI began 2024 with about $6 billion in annualized revenue. Its annualized revenue had reached approximately $20 billion at the start of 2026.
The company has also seen growing demand for its consumer products and enterprise services. Businesses use OpenAI’s technology to build applications, automate tasks and add AI features to existing products.
Reuters reported in September that OpenAI’s enterprise sales had more than doubled since July. The company also generated more consumer revenue in the third quarter than in all of the previous year, according to a source familiar with its finances.
This shows that OpenAI’s business has continued to expand, even as questions remain about how its revenue should be compared with that of its competitors.
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OpenAI and Anthropic Face New Pressure to Explain Their Financials
The revenue discrepancy comes as OpenAI and Anthropic prepare for potential public listings. Their financial performance is likely to receive closer attention as investors assess their growth, spending and ability to generate profits.
The two companies are competing for paying users, enterprise contracts and access to the computing resources needed to develop and operate advanced AI models. Revenue comparisons are an important part of that competition. However, differences in accounting methods can make it difficult to judge which company is performing better using headline figures alone.
The distinction could become clearer when the companies disclose more detailed financial information as part of the process of going public. For now, the gap between OpenAI’s nearly $50 billion and previously indicated $70 billion annualized revenue figures highlights the importance of understanding how AI companies report their sales.
The latest figure should not be treated as proof that OpenAI lost $20 billion in revenue. Instead, the reported difference largely reflects how the company counts certain sales made through cloud partners. Investors will need more detailed financial disclosures to assess the company’s actual performance and compare it fairly with Anthropic.
