OpenAI confirmed an annualized revenue run rate of about $50 billion at the end of September 2026 and rejected an earlier $70 billion report, complicating sales comparisons before potential stock listings.
The Financial Times initially reported the lower figure from documents shared with investors and later carried OpenAI’s confirmation. OpenAI said reports that it had reached a $70 billion run rate were inaccurate.
A run rate projects sales from a shorter period across a year; it is not revenue earned over 12 months. The roughly $20 billion difference between the confirmed rate and the rejected figure does not establish a decline in sales. The calculation behind the September rate and any breakdown of the difference remain unverified.
Axios reported that investors had sought a measure that would make OpenAI’s sales more comparable with Anthropic’s. In its account, Anthropic counted the full value of certain sales through cloud partners, while OpenAI counted its portion of some partner transactions. The Financial Times had earlier characterized the $70 billion figure as net revenue, leaving the basis of that rejected report unresolved.
In an Oct. 17 analysis, Olga Usvyatsky and Francine McKenna said partner-sales accounting alone was unlikely to explain the gap between OpenAI’s and Anthropic’s reported annualized revenue figures. They also raised questions about how the annualized figures were calculated.
EY’s guide to U.S. revenue rules says a company’s control of a service before delivery helps determine whether it records a transaction’s full value or only the fee it retains. The answer depends on the facts of each contract; the guidance does not establish how either AI company accounts for a particular deal.
OpenAI Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar said in January 2026 that the company had more than $20 billion in annual recurring revenue in 2025. That company-stated measure covers a different period from the September run rate and does not reconcile the disputed figures.
Anthropic announced a confidential draft IPO filing on June 1, 2026, and OpenAI announced one on June 8. Public registration statements would provide fuller financial disclosures for comparing their sales measures. Neither company has announced when it will publish one or set a listing date.
