On October 8, 2026, OpenAI’s annualized revenue was reported at about $50 billion at the end of September. Earlier estimates circulated at $68 billion or nearly $70 billion, with reported differences in how cloud-partner sales were counted.
What the $50 billion figure measures
Annualized revenue takes a shorter period’s sales pace and projects it across a year. It is a run-rate measure, not revenue accumulated during a completed fiscal year. The reported figure describes the pace at September’s end.
Why the earlier estimates differ
The earlier figure circulated as $68 billion in one version and nearly $70 billion in rounded descriptions. The $68 billion figure was described as including gross revenue from partners.
Reported comparisons with Anthropic also point to different treatment of cloud-partner sales. Anthropic’s run-rate calculation was described as including some sales through cloud providers, while OpenAI’s figure did not use the same gross-up approach. Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud were cited as examples of cloud providers in that comparison.
What the figures say about sales
The reported figures compare annualized estimates built on differing partner-revenue treatments. A comparison of recognized sales would use amounts booked over matching periods on a consistent basis; these figures describe run rates instead.
Sam Altman has also tied a potential future IPO to AI-safety considerations, a topic NeoTeo covered earlier.
