OpenAI has told investors that its annualised revenue is “approaching $50 billion”, the Financial Times reported on 8 October, citing financial documents shared with investors. That figure was for the end of September [1][2][3]. It is well below the $70 billion figure that media outlets reported late last month [2][3]. The FT’s headline puts the gap at “$20bn less than previously signalled” [1]. OpenAI is a private company and has not published these numbers. TSN could not read the full FT article, which is paywalled, so this piece relies on its headline and summary and on named reports that cite it. None of it is investment advice.
What “annualised revenue” means
Annualised revenue, also called a run rate, takes a recent period of sales, often a single month, and scales it up to a year. If a company takes in $4 billion in a month, its annualised revenue is about $48 billion.
It is not money the company has already received over the past year, and it is not a forecast or audited accounts. It is a snapshot of how fast money is coming in at one moment. A run rate can rise or fall quickly, and companies and investors can calculate it in different ways. That last point is at the heart of this story.
Where did $70bn come from?
According to the FT, as summarised by TheFly and TechCrunch, the higher figure came from “attempts by OpenAI’s own investors to produce a direct comparison with Anthropic’s annualised revenues” [2][3]. A person with knowledge of the matter told the FT that the two companies calculate the number in different ways [2].
The difference is cloud sales. Anthropic counts revenue from sales made through cloud partners, such as Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud; OpenAI does not count those sales in its own figure [3][4]. Investors “grossing up” OpenAI’s number to match Anthropic’s method pushed it higher, Invezz reports, summarising the FT [4].
So the gap is mainly about counting, not about money suddenly disappearing. The two figures measure different things.
Bloomberg reports a similar figure
Bloomberg News separately reported that OpenAI is on track to generate annualised revenue of “roughly $50 billion based on its current performance”, citing people familiar with the matter. It called this “an uptick from the prior year but less than some recently reported estimates” [5]. Bloomberg also credits the FT with reporting the new estimate first [5].
Why it matters
Annualised revenue has become one of the main ways people judge demand for AI. OpenAI and Anthropic are often compared on it, and it helps justify the huge sums being spent on chips and data centres. TechCrunch notes that OpenAI is under pressure to justify the investment made on its behalf [3]. TheFly reported that shares of Microsoft, a major investor in and partner of OpenAI, moved lower after the report [2].
A lower figure does not mean OpenAI is shrinking. Bloomberg describes its run rate as up on the prior year [5]. What it does show is that headline AI revenue figures depend on definitions, and that numbers passed on by investors, rather than published by the company, can be framed in different ways.
Update, 9 October 2026: Bloomberg reports OpenAI expects $70bn by year-end
Spotted via Bloomberg (@business) on X.
Reported; the $70 billion figure is a projection, not current revenue. Early on 9 October Bloomberg News reported that “OpenAI is expecting to reach or exceed $70 billion in annualized revenue by the end of the year, according to people familiar with the matter, driven largely by growth in its enterprise business” [6].
The same report puts OpenAI’s annualised revenue at “roughly $50 billion at the end of September”, which matches the figure this article is about [5][6]. So the two numbers describe different points in time: about $50 billion now, and an expectation of $70 billion or more by 31 December. Bloomberg adds that the run rate “represents a projection of OpenAI’s yearly sales based on a shorter period”, the definition explained above [6].
According to Bloomberg’s sources, OpenAI shared the numbers with investors during talks to raise “$30 billion or more at a $1.4 trillion valuation before the new money” [6]. OpenAI declined to comment [6].
How this fits with the earlier $70 billion. Last month’s $70 billion figure was, per the FT, investors’ own restatement of OpenAI’s revenue using Anthropic’s method [2][3]. Bloomberg says “Some outlets reported last month that OpenAI was already projecting nearly $70 billion in annualized revenue, based on investor estimates” [6]. The new figure is different: a year-end target that OpenAI itself is reported to expect. Bloomberg does not say which counting method it uses, so it should not be read as confirming either earlier number.
What this does not prove
- The exact figure. The FT’s wording is “approaching” $50 billion and Bloomberg’s is “roughly” $50 billion. Neither is an audited number, and TSN has not seen the investor documents [1][2][5].
- That OpenAI misled anyone. According to the FT’s source, the higher figure came from investors’ own comparison, made using Anthropic’s method [2][3].
- That OpenAI is ahead of or behind Anthropic. The two companies count revenue differently, so their run rates are not directly comparable [3][4].
- Anything about OpenAI’s value or its share price prospects. TSN makes no predictions.
- That OpenAI will reach $70 billion. It is an expectation reported by unnamed people familiar with the matter, shared with investors during a fundraising, and OpenAI has not published it [6]. Bloomberg does not say whether it counts cloud-partner sales.
The Bottom Line
OpenAI’s annualised revenue was “approaching $50 billion” at the end of September, according to investor documents reported by the FT. Bloomberg separately reports about the same figure. The earlier $70 billion figure came from investors restating OpenAI’s numbers Anthropic’s way, by counting cloud-partner sales. A run rate is a speed reading, not a bank balance, and this story shows how much the method behind it matters.
Bloomberg now reports that OpenAI expects to reach or exceed $70 billion in annualised revenue by the end of 2026, up from roughly $50 billion at the end of September. That is a projection shared with investors during a fundraising, not money earned, and OpenAI declined to comment.
Sources
- George Hammond and Stephen Morris, “OpenAI annualised revenues $20bn less than previously signalled”, Financial Times, 8 October 2026 (paywalled; TSN read the headline and standfirst only; cites financial documents shared with investors). https://www.ft.com/content/b66a9858-f8fb-46cb-b506-44bfe26fca2a
- TheFly via Markets Insider, “OpenAI says annualized revenue nearing $50B in September, FT reports”, 8 October 2026 (secondary summary of the FT; source of the Microsoft share-move line). https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/openai-says-annualized-revenue-nearing-50b-in-september-ft-reports-1036610755
- Lucas Ropek, “OpenAI’s revenue is reportedly $20 billion less than previously projected”, TechCrunch, 8 October 2026, 19:19 BST (secondary report of the FT; TechCrunch asked OpenAI for comment). https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/08/openais-revenue-is-reportedly-20-billion-less-than-previously-projected/
- “OpenAI revenue run rate falls short of $70B figure: report”, Invezz, 8 October 2026 (secondary summary of the FT; source of the AWS and Google Cloud examples and the “gross up” quote). https://invezz.com/uk/news/2026/10/08/openai-revenue-run-rate-falls-short-of-dollar70b-figure-report/
- Rebecca Torrence and Shirin Ghaffary, “OpenAI’s Revenue Run Rate Nears $50 Billion, Less Than Reported”, Bloomberg News (via Bloomberg Law), 8 October 2026, 19:22 BST (people familiar with the matter; TSN read the opening paragraphs). https://news.bloomberglaw.com/artificial-intelligence/openais-annualized-revenue-nears-50-billion-ft-says
- Rebecca Torrence and Shirin Ghaffary, “OpenAI Expects $70 Billion in Annualized Revenue by End of 2026”, Bloomberg News, 9 October 2026, 02:43 BST (people familiar with the matter; read in full via the Yahoo Finance reprint). https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/ai/articles/openai-expects-70-billion-annualized-014338719.html
- Bloomberg (@business), X post, 9 October 2026, 09:25 BST (read via the X API; it summarises [6] and links to it, and adds nothing beyond the article). https://x.com/business/status/2108473983980937563
