OpenAI's Revenue Comes In $20 Billion Below Earlier Projections

A little over a week ago, reports put OpenAI's annualized revenue near $70 billion — a figure that would have placed it alongside Anthropic's reported run rate. Now it turns out the real number is some $20 billion lower.

The Financial Times reports that OpenAI has told investors its annualized revenue is "approaching $50 billion." The earlier $70 billion figure was circulated in the press and drawn from information shared with the company's investors. According to the outlet, that number grew out of attempts by OpenAI's own backers to draw a direct comparison with Anthropic's annualized revenues.

Worth noting: the two labs count annualized revenue differently. Anthropic includes sales made through its cloud partners, while OpenAI does not — which makes any head-to-head comparison shaky from the start.

The weight of expectations

The revenue question has long dogged OpenAI as it tries to justify the enormous sums being poured into it. In its March funding round alone the company raised $122 billion. Yet leaked 2025 financials, surfacing earlier this year, showed revenue of about $13 billion — against spending that ran well ahead of that.

The company's IPO, once rumored to arrive this year, has been pushed to early 2027. TechCrunch has reached out to OpenAI for comment.

Source: TechCrunch