OpenAI’s (OPAI.PVT) annualized revenue would be $20 billion lower than previous estimates.
According to the Financial Times, the AI startup’s annualized revenue stood at around $50 billion in September, well below the $70 billion previously estimated.
This dramatic change is the result of investor miscalculations. The FT said investors who initially cited the $70 billion figure arrived at the figure by comparing OpenAI’s revenue with that of Anthropic (ANTH.PVT).
Annualized revenue takes a snapshot of revenue over a certain period of time and extrapolates it over a year. But OpenAI and Anthropic calculate their annualized revenue differently.
Investors first tried to determine whether OpenAI’s sales reached $40 billion in August. Later, when OpenAI told investors that their revenue had increased by 70%, they added that amount to the initial estimate of $40 billion and landed on $70 billion.
At $50 billion, OpenAI’s annualized revenue would now be lower than Anthropic’s $65 billion in annualized sales.
OpenAI is widely expected to launch its IPO in early 2027, while Anthropic is expected to hit the public market sometime before Thanksgiving, with its S-1 public investor prospectus expected to arrive any day now.
Both companies compete for enterprise customers, offering products that include coding and general-purpose AI agents.
Last week, OpenAI held its annual developer conference, where it introduced its new Dots AI agents for enterprise workers and its latest model, GPT-6.1 Sol.
Email Daniel Howley at dhowley@yahoofinance.com. Follow him on Twitter at @DanielHowley.
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