OpenAI’s revenue is reportedly $20 billion less than previously projected

OpenAI has told investors that its current annualized revenue is ‘‘approaching $50 billion,’’ according to the Financial Times. That figure is materially below some recent media reports which placed the company’s run rate at around $70 billion. The lower number was disclosed privately to investors and reported by the FT. The earlier $70 billion estimate arose from attempts by OpenAI investors to make direct comparisons with Anthropic’s reported annualized revenue. The two companies use different conventions when compiling run-rate figures: Anthropic includes sales made by its cloud partners in its calculation, whereas OpenAI does not, which helps explain part of the divergence. The debate over OpenAI’s revenue comes as the company manages scrutiny over very large capital inflows and its path to profitability. The source notes leaked 2025 results that showed roughly $13 billion in revenue but substantially higher spending. OpenAI also completed a sizable funding round in March that the article says amounted to $122 billion, and plans for an IPO that were previously expected this year have been pushed to early 2027. Tech outlets reached out to OpenAI for comment on the discrepancy. The episode underscores the difficulty of comparing financial run-rate numbers across AI firms when accounting methods differ and when much of the underlying data is shared privately with investors rather than disclosed publicly.