{"id":439719,"date":"2026-10-09T05:50:10","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T22:50:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swingfish.trade\/blog\/market-news\/how-a-negative-20-billion-gap-opened-up-in-openais-revenue-figures-439719\/"},"modified":"2026-10-09T05:50:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T22:50:10","slug":"how-a-negative-20-billion-gap-opened-up-in-openais-revenue-figures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swingfish.trade\/blog\/market-news\/how-a-negative-20-billion-gap-opened-up-in-openais-revenue-figures-439719\/","title":{"rendered":"How a (negative!) $20 billion gap opened up in OpenAI\u2019s revenue figures"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The gap underlines how difficult it is to compare private AI developers, whose headline numbers shape valuations in some of the largest private funding rounds on record. For investors in listed AI exposure, from cloud providers to chipmakers, the episode is a reminder that annualised revenue figures from private labs are not audited results and can vary by accounting choice rather than underlying demand. Accounting method will come under closer scrutiny if either company moves toward a public listing, where reported revenue and standard earnings disclosures replace investor-facing metrics. Profit claims excluding stock-based compensation, and made before large computing commitments take effect, are likely to face the same scepticism.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">&#8212;<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Posting this ICYMI. Its negative for equites, at the amrgin.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">&#8212;<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">OpenAI\u2019s $70 billion revenue figure turns out to be $50 billion counted its own way, a $20 billion lesson in why AI companies\u2019 headline numbers rarely compare like-for-like.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Summary:<\/p>\n<ul dir=\"ltr\">\n<li>OpenAI\u2019s annualised revenue is about $50 billion, roughly $20 billion below the $70 billion figure reported in September, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/10\/08\/openai-50-billion-arr-anthropic-revenue-accounting\" rel=\"follow\">Axios<\/a> reported<\/li>\n<li>The higher figure was grossed up for investors seeking a direct comparison with Anthropic, according to sources cited by Axios<\/li>\n<li>Anthropic books the full value of sales made through cloud partners as revenue and records the partner\u2019s cut as an expense, while OpenAI records only its share of certain partner sales<\/li>\n<li>Both companies are compliant with US accounting standards; the difference turns on which party controls the customer relationship and delivers the product<\/li>\n<li>Anthropic reportedly told investors of a second-quarter operating profit, but that excluded stock-based compensation and largely predated major computing deals<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">OpenAI\u2019s annualised revenue stands at about $50 billion, roughly $20 billion less than the figure widely reported last month, Axios reported, with the gap explained by differences in how artificial intelligence companies account for sales made through cloud partners.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The higher $70 billion figure, reported in September by Axios and other outlets, was based on information shared with investors to allow a more direct comparison with rival Anthropic, according to the report. Sources told Axios the number was grossed up because investors wanted a like-for-like figure calculated using Anthropic\u2019s methodology.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Both companies comply with US generally accepted accounting principles, but they treat revenue from partner sales differently. Under Anthropic\u2019s approach, if a customer pays $100 for an AI service through a cloud provider, the company can record the full $100 as revenue and list the provider\u2019s share as an expense, according to an accounting expert cited by Axios. OpenAI, by contrast, records only its own share of certain partner sales. The distinction rests on how each company views its role in the transaction, including which party controls the customer relationship and is responsible for delivering the product.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The episode highlights the limits of annualised revenue, a figure that projects sales from a given period across a full year. The measure is widely used in Silicon Valley, but public-market investors typically prefer reported revenue to constructs better suited to early-stage start-ups, the report noted.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Profit claims warrant similar caution. Anthropic reportedly told investors it achieved an operating profit in the second quarter, according to the Financial Times, but those figures excluded stock-based compensation. They also largely predate a series of computing agreements the company has signed that are expected to cost hundreds of billions of dollars, according to The Information.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Until such figures are published in the audited form typical of an earnings release, headline revenue and profit numbers from private AI developers are likely to remain difficult to compare on a consistent basis.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\n<p>                            This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at investinglive.com.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The gap underlines how difficult it is to compare private AI developers, whose headline numbers shape valuations in some of the largest private funding rounds on record. For investors in listed AI&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":216,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[86],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-439719","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-market-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swingfish.trade\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439719","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swingfish.trade\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swingfish.trade\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swingfish.trade\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/216"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swingfish.trade\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=439719"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.swingfish.trade\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439719\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swingfish.trade\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=439719"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swingfish.trade\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=439719"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swingfish.trade\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=439719"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}