AI hype meets revenue reality: OpenAI figures fall US$20b short of earlier reports

OpenAI’s annualised revenue stood at nearly US$50 billion at the end of September, about US$20 billion below figures previously reported, according to the Financial Times. — AFP pic

First Published: Friday, 09 Oct 2026 10:03 AM MYT

WASHINGTON, Oct 9 — OpenAI is bringing in about US$20 billion (RM82 billion) less in annualised revenue than investors had been led to believe, the Financial Times reported yesterday, raising questions about the solidity of the AI business.

Citing documents shared with OpenAI’s financial backers, the FT said the company put its annualised revenue at close to US$50 billion as of the end of September.

Media reports late last month had pegged the figure at US$70 billion based on information given to investors.

Investors track annualised revenue at OpenAI and Anthropic as the clearest signal of demand for artificial intelligence, and the figures help justify enormous spending on data centres as well as the AI-fuelled stock market rally.

The metric, which tech startups commonly use to signal their growth trajectory, is sometimes criticised as imprecise or even misleading, since it typically extrapolates a single month’s sales across a full year.

In an apparent pushback, a person familiar with the matter told CNBC that the earlier number, which the network reported as US$68 billion, counted gross revenue from OpenAI’s partnerships with companies like chipmaker Nvidia.

That method was intended to make it easier for investors to measure the company against chief rival Anthropic.

The report weighed on AI-linked stocks, with Nvidia down 2.9 per cent, SpaceX down 4 per cent and Oracle losing nearly 6 per cent.

OpenAI did not immediately respond to AFP’s request for comment.

The report lands as OpenAI negotiates a fresh private fundraising that could value it at roughly US$1.4 trillion, according to the FT.

OpenAI, which confidentially submitted paperwork for an initial public offering in June, had been widely expected to go public this fall, but it has since pushed back the listing.

Archrival Anthropic is expected to list on the public markets next month. — AFP