OpenAI projected to bring in $20bn less in revenue than expected

OpenAI cuts its September revenue estimate to nearly $50 billion

OpenAI has told investors its annualised revenue for September was close to $50 billion (€44.54 billion), well below the figure it had signalled earlier. At a separate event, the company had indicated that its run rate for the month was approaching $70 billion, according to Reuters and other outlets. The Financial Times was first to report the lower number, and OpenAI did not respond to a request for comment.

A source who spoke to Reuters anonymously said the gap largely came from an effort to compare OpenAI's numbers directly with those of rival Anthropic. The two companies count revenue differently. OpenAI leaves out sales made through cloud partners such as Amazon's AWS and Google Cloud, while Anthropic includes them. Anthropic pays those partners roughly 16 per cent of every dollar earned that way, and a Reuters analysis showed such sales made up half of its revenue last year.

Both companies are preparing to go public, which should give Wall Street a clearer look at their finances, including whether their rapid growth, fuelled by booming demand for AI applications, can be sustained.

OpenAI began the year with $20 billion in annualised revenue, up from $6 billion in 2024. In the second quarter, Anthropic overtook it in quarterly revenue for the first time, reporting $11.5 billion against OpenAI's $6.7 billion. Sources previously told Reuters that Anthropic's annualised revenue passed $65 billion in July and is on track to hit $100 billion by the end of the year.

Analysts caution that annualised run rate can be a misleading measure, since it often just multiplies a single month's revenue by 12. It has nonetheless become a favourite metric among fast-growing Silicon Valley startups.

SoftBank's Son seeks up to $100 billion from Gulf investors

Separately, the Financial Times reported on Friday that SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son is looking to raise up to $100 billion from Gulf investors to finance a new round of AI investments. Citing people familiar with the matter, the paper said Son has held talks in recent weeks with senior figures, including in the United Arab Emirates.

The push follows SoftBank's announcement last week that it had completed its $30 billion investment in OpenAI, fulfilling its commitment from the ChatGPT maker's most recent funding round. Last month SoftBank also raised $11.1 billion in the largest high-yield corporate bond sale globally to fund its OpenAI bet.

According to the report, the Japanese conglomerate would use the new money to set up a fund that buys companies and improves their operations using AI and other advanced technologies.

Source: Reuters