Just over a week after reports surfaced suggesting OpenAI's annualized revenue was closing in on $70 billion - a figure that would have placed it in the same league as rival Anthropic - the AI company has reportedly walked back that number significantly, telling investors that actual annualized revenue is closer to $50 billion.

According to a report from the Financial Times, OpenAI has communicated to its investors that its annualized revenue is "approaching $50 billion," a figure roughly $20 billion lower than what had been circulating in recent weeks. The FT notes that the earlier $70 billion figure was not fabricated out of thin air - it originated from information that OpenAI itself had previously shared with investors. The discrepancy arose when those investors attempted to construct a direct comparison between OpenAI's revenue and Anthropic's annualized run rate.

Different Accounting Methods at the Heart of the Gap

A key factor behind the confusion is that the two companies do not measure annualized revenue using the same methodology. Anthropic includes sales generated through its cloud distribution partners when calculating its run rate, a practice that can substantially inflate the headline figure. OpenAI, by contrast, does not factor in such partner-driven sales, meaning the two numbers are not directly comparable on a like-for-like basis. This methodological difference helps explain how a seemingly straightforward comparison produced such a wide discrepancy.

Revenue Questions Add Pressure to a Company Under Scrutiny

The question of OpenAI's true revenue trajectory carries considerable weight given the scale of investment the company has attracted. In March alone, OpenAI closed a funding round worth $122 billion, one of the largest in the history of the technology industry. That level of capital raises expectations among investors who need confidence that the company's commercial performance can eventually justify such enormous financial commitments.

Earlier this year, leaked financial documents painted a more complicated picture of OpenAI's fiscal health. The figures revealed that the company had generated approximately $13 billion in revenue but had spent considerably more than that, resulting in significant losses. For a company seeking to demonstrate a credible path toward profitability, the gap between income and expenditure remains a point of concern for observers and investors alike.

Adding to the uncertainty around the company's financial future, OpenAI's anticipated initial public offering has been pushed back. An IPO had previously been rumored to be on track for sometime this year, but those plans have since been revised, with the listing now reportedly not expected until early 2027. The delay gives the company more time to shore up its financials before facing the scrutiny that comes with public market disclosure requirements.

As the competitive landscape in artificial intelligence continues to evolve rapidly, with well-funded rivals including Anthropic, Google DeepMind, and others vying for enterprise and consumer adoption, the pressure on OpenAI to demonstrate sustained revenue growth remains significant. How the company reconciles its spending levels with its commercial performance will likely remain a central topic of discussion among investors and industry analysts throughout the coming year.