OpenAI Reports $10 Billion Quarterly Revenue, but Anthropic Reached That Milestone Earlier

Revenue milestone, but unverified

OpenAI told investors on Tuesday that its third-quarter revenue crossed $10 billion for the first time, according to Bloomberg, which cited people familiar with the call. The figure would represent a nearly 50% jump from the $6.7 billion reported for the second quarter and nearly triple the year-earlier level [1][3]. President Greg Brockman and Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar presented the numbers. OpenAI declined to comment [3].

OpenAI also informed investors that its annualized revenue run rate reached roughly $50 billion at the end of September [1][3]. Bloomberg's report attributes the acceleration to tighter pricing, improved models, targeted discounts, and a stronger push into enterprise products and Claude's new feature and AI agents capable of completing multi-step tasks [4]. That reference to Anthropic's Claude appears to be an error in the secondary reporting. Those drivers have not been independently confirmed.

Losses still exceed revenue

Revenue growth came with a larger absolute loss. The adjusted operating loss for the quarter was approximately $10.9 billion, up from roughly $10.1 billion in Q2 [4]. The adjusted operating margin narrowed from –150% to –109%, meaning OpenAI still lost more than a dollar for every dollar of revenue after adjustments [3][4]. The margin improvement signals some efficiency progress, but the gap between revenue and cost remains wide. Computing, infrastructure, research, and talent costs are not shown to be declining relative to revenue [4].

Anthropic comparison complicated by methodology

Rival Anthropic reported approximately $17 billion in third-quarter revenue in an amended Form S-1 filed with the SEC, giving its figure stronger primary-source standing than OpenAI's investor-shared numbers [4]. Anthropic had already surpassed $10 billion in quarterly revenue in the second quarter, reporting $11.6 billion [3]. However, the two companies calculate revenue differently. Anthropic includes sales made through cloud partners in its run-rate calculation; OpenAI reports only its share of some partner-generated sales [1][4]. The figures are not directly comparable, and treating them as equivalent overstates or understates the gap depending on which methodology is applied [4].

Anthropic's Q3 growth slowed to about 47% from over 140% in the prior quarter [3]. Its annualized run rate reached $81 billion by the end of October, per its filing [1]. Anthropic is targeting a $1.4 trillion valuation in an IPO expected as soon as November 19 [1][2].

What drove the surge, per the company

On the investor call, Friar said OpenAI's business grew 70% quarter over quarter, its enterprise business doubled, and revenue splits about evenly between consumer and enterprise [2]. She cited 1.2 billion weekly ChatGPT users, subscriptions topping 100 million users, and an advertising run rate of $1 billion by August [2]. The consumer business grew 20% quarter over quarter [2]. Friar also said Anthropic's enterprise success demonstrated the value of distribution agreements with third-party cloud providers, and that OpenAI had been "stuck on this [Microsoft] Azure contract" until recently [2].

The 70% figure Friar cited for business growth differs from the nearly 50% quarter-over-quarter revenue increase reported by Bloomberg [1][3]. The two measures may not be equivalent: Friar's "business growth" could encompass metrics beyond reported revenue, or the calculations may use different baselines. The sources do not reconcile the discrepancy.

Funding round and IPO context

OpenAI is finalizing a funding round that values it at $1.25 trillion pre-money, after initially seeking $1.4 trillion or more [2][3]. The first tranche of $11 billion has closed, with participation from SoftBank and Abu Dhabi's MGX [2]. A second tranche of up to $9 billion remains unclosed [2]. The valuation step-up from the March round (reported at $852 billion) is roughly 47% [2]. OpenAI has pushed its public-listing timeline back to next year [3].

What remains unknown

• Whether the $10 billion quarter and $10.9 billion loss will appear in audited financials.
• How much of the revenue growth is sustainable versus pulled forward by discounts or one-time enterprise deals.
• Whether the margin improvement trend continues or stalls as compute costs rise.
• The terms and likelihood of the second funding tranche closing at full size.
• How OpenAI's enterprise momentum compares to Anthropic's once methodology differences are normalized.

The milestone is real in the sense that investors were told it happened. Whether it holds up under audit, and whether it marks a turning point toward profitability, remains to be seen.