OpenAI’s revenue is reportedly $20 billion less than previously projected
TechCrunch Lucas Ropek ● Covered by 2 sources
OpenAI’s annual revenue is now said to be near $50B, not $70B. That gap matters because investors were using the bigger number to size up the company.
Based on reporting by TechCrunch, Lucas Ropek — read the original for the full story.
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OpenAI’s top-line number just got a lot smaller. The Financial Times says the company told investors its annualized revenue is “approaching $50 billion,” which is roughly $20 billion below the figure that had been circulating last week.
That earlier $70 billion estimate had been built from information OpenAI had already shared with investors, and then used in an attempt to line it up against Anthropic’s reported run rate. The FT says those comparisons were being made through investor-driven math, not because the two companies measure revenue the same way.
They don’t. Anthropic includes sales made by its cloud partners in its annualized revenue calculation, while OpenAI does not. That makes the headline numbers look closer than they really are, and in this case it appears to have made OpenAI look bigger than the company itself is now saying it is.
The correction lands at an awkward moment for OpenAI. The company is still trying to explain the scale of the money being poured into it, including a $122 billion funding round in March. Its leaked 2025 financials also showed about $13 billion in revenue but much higher spending. And the IPO talk that had been floating around this year has now been pushed to early 2027.
My take — AI-written commentary, not fact-checked reporting
This is what happens when AI companies start playing revenue dress-up for investors: the costume falls apart under fluorescent lights. OpenAI isn’t alone here, but it is the biggest name and the clearest reminder that giant funding rounds do not magically turn into giant profits. The market keeps asking for clean comparisons, and the industry keeps handing over fog.
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