OpenAI would have recorded Annualized revenues of approximately $50 billion as of Septembera digit 20 billion lower than estimates of 70 billion circulated in recent weeks. The difference, which emerged from the information shared by the company with investors and reported by Financial Timeshas reignited questions about the speed of growth of the artificial intelligence market and the sustainability of the vast resources allocated to the sector.
The figure of 50 billion dollars represents a projection based on revenue trends up to the end of Septembernot the turnover actually collected in the entire year. In fact, annualized revenues are obtained taking a specific period as a reference and projecting the results over twelve months. This is a useful measure for evaluating the evolution of an activity, but it is not equivalent to a definitive annual balance sheet.
According to the Financial Times, the discrepancy allegedly arose from investors’ attempts to directly compare OpenAI with Anthropic. Initially, some operators had sought to determine whether OpenAI had reached $40 billion in annualized revenues in August. When the company communicated 70% growth to investors, the percentage was applied to the initial estimate, bringing the result to around 70 billion.
The calculation, however, did not take into account the differences in the criteria used by the two companies. Anthropic also includes sales made through cloud partners such as Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud in its revenues, while OpenAI does not take the same approach. The figures, therefore, they are not directly comparable without considering their respective methodologies.
Anthropic was expected to reach $65 billion in annualized revenues expected at the end of July. If we were to consider OpenAI’s updated estimate, Claude’s company would therefore find itself ahead of its rival in terms of annualized revenues, although the different accounting criteria make it necessary to interpret the comparison with caution.
The revision in expectations contributed to the sell-off in US markets on Thursday. The Nasdaq, the index with a strong technological component, closed down 1.4%. Among the most penalized stocks were NVIDIA, down 2.9%, Oracle, which lost 5.5%, and Micron, which fell 4.8%.
The swings show how expectations about the growth of artificial intelligence influence the valuations of technology companies, from accelerator and memory makers to cloud infrastructure providers.
OpenAI it would also be in the initial stages of negotiations for a new capital raising of 30 billion dollars, which would value the company at around 1,400 billion. The last large financing round ended in March, with a raising of 122 billion and a valuation of 852 billion. Two months later, Anthropic announced a $65 billion financing, reaching a valuation of $965 billion.
The listing plans of the two companies are also under observation. Anthropic could proceed with an initial public offering, or IPO, as soon as next month, according to reports. OpenAI, on the other hand, would look to the stock market in 2027.
