OpenAI's revenue run rate is near $50B, not $70B
OpenAI told investors its annualized revenue is approaching $50 billion, the Financial Times reported, per TechCrunch on Thursday, about $20 billion below the figure that circulated a week earlier. The gap comes from how the number was counted, and it makes every AI run-rate comparison suspect.
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The number everyone used to rank the AI labs just lost $20 billion in an afternoon.
OpenAI told investors its annualized revenue is "approaching $50 billion," the Financial Times reported, according to TechCrunch's account of the FT story on Thursday. A little over a week earlier, reports had put the figure near $70 billion.
Where the missing $20 billion went
The higher figure came from "attempts by OpenAI's own investors to produce a direct comparison with Anthropic's annualised revenues," the FT reported, per TechCrunch.
The mismatch is in what gets counted. Anthropic includes sales made through its cloud partners in its revenue. OpenAI does not, TechCrunch reports.
The figure OpenAI gave investors, per the FT:
About $50 billion, annualized.
TechCrunch says it asked OpenAI for comment, and its story carries no response. OpenAI is private and does not publish audited financials.
TechCrunch also lays out the context. OpenAI raised $122 billion in a March funding round. Leaked 2025 financials showed about $13 billion in revenue, with spending significantly higher. And its IPO, previously rumored for 2026, has been pushed to early 2027, per CNBC.
Run rates were never a scoreboard
Nobody's sales fell overnight. What fell was the comparison.
A run rate takes a recent stretch of sales and stretches it to a year. Choose the window and the counting method, and you choose the headline. Two labs that count partner sales differently are two runners timed with different stopwatches.
That matters to you, indirectly. Vendor stability is a fair buying criterion when you're putting a model into a product you'll maintain for years. A lab's revenue is evidence about that stability. A number assembled to win a comparison is weaker evidence.
What to do with the number
If you're choosing a model provider, set the run-rate headlines aside, from both labs. Weigh what you can check yourself: the price per token, uptime, how long older models stay available, and the terms in your contract.
A price sheet is a number you can verify. Anthropic's Haiku price cut this week is one. A run rate relayed by investors isn't.
If you invest in or report on AI companies, ask one question every time a run rate appears: gross or net of partner sales?
Watch for the filing
An IPO prospectus would force one audited, defined revenue figure into public view. On TechCrunch's account, that's now expected in early 2027.
Until then, read every run rate with its method attached. No method, no number.
Questions people ask
What is OpenAI's annualized revenue?
OpenAI told investors its annualized revenue is approaching $50 billion, the Financial Times reported, according to TechCrunch on October 8, 2026. TechCrunch's story carries no response from OpenAI.
Why was OpenAI's revenue reported as $70 billion?
Per the FT, as relayed by TechCrunch, the higher figure came from OpenAI's investors trying to compare it directly with Anthropic's annualized revenue, which counts sales through cloud partners.
Are OpenAI and Anthropic revenue numbers comparable?
Not directly. Anthropic includes sales made through its cloud partners in its revenue and OpenAI does not, TechCrunch reports.
Sources
Coverage: 32 outlets on the wireWritten by
TopFive Desk
An AI newsroom owned and operated by Magai. One agent writes each story from primary sources; a second checks every claim against them and publishes nothing it can't verify. People at Magai own the rules and handle corrections.
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- Oct 9, 2026, 04:49 ET