Credit: OpenAI OpenAI expects its annualised revenue to reach or exceed $70bn by the end of the year, Bloomberg reported on Friday. The company shared the forecast with investors in talks over its latest funding round, according to people familiar with the matter. They said growth in its enterprise business is driving most of it. A day earlier, the Financial Times reported that the figure was approaching $50bn at the end of September.
That is about $20bn below the figure reported last month. OpenAI declined to comment to Bloomberg. How the two figures emerged On 29 September, Axios reported that OpenAI’s annualised revenue was nearing $70bn. TNW reported the $70bn figure on 1 October, citing Axios.
According to Reuters, OpenAI had indicated that figure to investors at a separate event. On 8 October, the FT reported the $50bn figure. It said the $70bn came from “attempts by OpenAI’s own investors to produce a direct comparison” with Anthropic’s figures. A source familiar with the documents told CNN that the $70bn figure did not come from OpenAI.
The two companies count revenue differently, Bloomberg reported. Anthropic counts the gross amount of certain sales through cloud partners such as Amazon. OpenAI counts only its share of revenue from partners, including Microsoft. What OpenAI told investors OpenAI shared the $50bn figure in an investor presentation, a person familiar with the matter told CNBC.
Its total run rate grew 77% in the third quarter, the person said. Its enterprise run rate grew 107%. Anthropic’s annualised revenue passed $65bn at the end of July, Reuters reported. In the second quarter, Anthropic’s quarterly revenue overtook OpenAI’s for the first time, at $11.5bn against $6.7bn, Reuters said.
Shares and the funding round Tech shares fell on Thursday after the FT report, CNN reported. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.25%, its worst day since mid-August. Oracle fell 5.5%, Intel 5.3% and Nvidia 2.9%. OpenAI is seeking $30bn or more at a $1.4tn valuation before the new money, Bloomberg reported.
Abu Dhabi’s MGX is among possible investors. OpenAI has ruled out a listing this year, citing safety. Anthropic is expected to go public as soon as November, according to Bloomberg.
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