OpenAI's reported annualized revenue is $20 billion lower than earlier investor estimates, revealing weaker-than-expected monetization of compute capacity.

OpenAI's annualized revenue stands at approximately $50 billion as of September, according to the Financial Times—a sharp $20 billion shortfall from the $70 billion figure previously circulated by investors and media outlets.

The discrepancy stems from how investors calculated the higher estimate. In attempting to gauge OpenAI's growth trajectory, they initially assumed the company had reached $40 billion in annualized sales by August. When OpenAI subsequently disclosed a 70% revenue increase, investors added that percentage to the baseline estimate, arriving at roughly $70 billion. However, OpenAI and Anthropic employ different methodologies for calculating annualized revenue, creating the gap between investor projections and actual figures.

At $50 billion, OpenAI's annualized revenue now trails Anthropic's reported $65 billion, a significant reversal in the competitive dynamics between the two AI leaders.

Both companies are preparing for public markets. OpenAI is expected to pursue its initial public offering in early 2027, while Anthropic is anticipated to go public before Thanksgiving, with its S-1 investor prospectus expected imminently. The two firms are competing aggressively for enterprise customers, developing products ranging from specialized coding agents to general-purpose AI systems.

At its annual developers conference last week, OpenAI unveiled new Dots AI agents designed for enterprise workers alongside its latest model, GPT-6.1 Sol.