The AI ReceiptsHow much does OpenAI make? About $50B a year, not $70B
By Cydel Giraudel · Data checked Oct 25, 2026 · How we verify
OpenAI told investors it ran at roughly $50 billion a year at the end of September 2026, up from about $20B in January (CNBC, Reuters, Oct 8). Actual revenue: $13.07B in 2025, about $12.4B in H1 2026. Reported, not verified
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Unlike most of our site, nothing on this page is processor-verified. These are OpenAI's own announcements, audited statements obtained by journalists, and press reports citing people familiar with its investor updates, each linked with its date. We did not estimate any revenue number; sums, multiples and per-day figures are our own math on reported figures and are labelled as such. For businesses whose payment data we can check, see the verified AI revenue leaderboard.
How much revenue does OpenAI make per year?
| Period | Reported revenue | Context | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $3.7B | Net loss about $5.1B | Audited statements via Quartz / Ars Technica, Jun 2026 |
| 2025 | $13.07B | Operating loss $20.92B on $34B of costs | Audited statements (Ed Zitron, checked by the FT) via Ars Technica, Jun 2026 |
| Q1 2026 | $5.7B | Burned $3.7B of cash in the quarter | The Information, via Reuters, Jun 16, 2026 |
| Q2 2026 | $6.7B | Anthropic reported $11.5B the same quarter | Reuters, Oct 8, 2026 |
Our math on these figures: 2025 was about 3.5x 2024. The first half of 2026 ($12.4B) is about 95% of all of 2025. Q2 2026 works out to roughly $74M a day.
What is OpenAI's annualized revenue run rate?
A run rate takes recent revenue (usually a month) and multiplies it out to a year. It's the number AI companies use to show growth, and it's where the confusion this month came from:
| When | Reported figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| End of 2024 | About $6B a year | Reuters, Oct 8, 2026 |
| Start of 2026 | About $20B a year | Reuters, Oct 8, 2026 |
| Late Sep 2026 (widely reported) | Approaching $68B–$70B, but this "grossed up" partner sales to match Anthropic's method | CNBC / Axios, Oct 8, 2026 |
| End of Sep 2026 (what OpenAI told investors) | Roughly $50B a year; run rate up 77% in Q3, enterprise up 107% | FT first; confirmed by CNBC, Reuters, Bloomberg, Oct 8, 2026 |
| End of 2026 (forecast) | $70B a year or more expected | Bloomberg, Oct 8, 2026 |
About $20B to roughly $50B is 2.5x in nine months (our math). Run rates aren't standardized and aren't audited; analysts call them "sometimes misleading" (Reuters).
Why did OpenAI's revenue drop from $70 billion to $50 billion?
It didn't actually drop. In late September, outlets reported OpenAI was approaching $68B–$70B a year. On Oct 8, 2026 the FT, then CNBC, Reuters and Bloomberg, reported that what OpenAI told investors was roughly $50B. The higher figure "grossed up" sales made through cloud partners so investors could compare it with Anthropic, which books the full price of Claude sold through Amazon and Google as revenue. OpenAI counts only its share of those sales (Axios). Both methods are allowed under accounting rules. Same business, two ways of counting. AI stocks still fell that day: Nvidia −3%, Oracle about −6%, CoreWeave about −8% (CNBC).
Does OpenAI make more than Anthropic?
Not by the reported numbers. In Q2 2026 OpenAI reported $6.7B against Anthropic's $11.5B, the first quarter Anthropic came out ahead (Reuters). Anthropic then reported $16.8B for Q3 and runs at about $67B a year (see how much Anthropic makes). Because Anthropic counts partner sales at full price and OpenAI doesn't, the gap is smaller than the headline numbers suggest, but nobody outside the two companies knows by exactly how much.
Is OpenAI profitable?
No. In 2025 it spent about $34B to make $13.07B, an operating loss of $20.92B. Research and development alone was $19.18B (including $10.59B paid to Microsoft), the cost of running its products was $7.5B, and sales and marketing $5.73B (Ars Technica, Quartz, Jun 2026). The net loss was about $38.5B, but roughly $30B of that was a one-time accounting charge from its for-profit conversion; the FT put it at about $8B without it. In Q1 2026 it burned $3.7B of cash on $5.7B of revenue (Reuters). Our math: in 2025 it spent about $2.60 for every $1 it made.
How many people use and pay for ChatGPT?
More than 1.2 billion people use ChatGPT each week, OpenAI said on Oct 7, 2026, up from 900 million in February. Its latest paying count is from Feb 27, 2026: more than 50 million consumer subscribers and more than 9 million paying business users. That's about 1 paying consumer for every 18 weekly users at the time (our math). OpenAI hasn't shared a newer subscriber number.
How much does ChatGPT cost?
From chatgpt.com/pricing, read Oct 25, 2026 (US prices): Free; Go $8 a month (may include ads); Plus $20 a month; Pro from $100 a month, with three usage tiers, the top one $500 a month (announced at DevDay, Sep 29, 2026). Business and Enterprise are priced per user, and developers pay per use through the API.
What's next: new funding and an IPO?
OpenAI closed a $122B funding round in March at an $852B valuation, confidentially filed for an IPO in June, and executives have signaled a 2027 debut. It's in early talks to raise about $30B more (CNBC), at a reported $1.4 trillion valuation before the new money (Bloomberg). When it files publicly, we'll update this page with the filed numbers.
What does OpenAI's revenue mean if you want to make money with AI?
OpenAI's fastest-growing money is from businesses (enterprise run rate up 107% in Q3, per CNBC's source). Small businesses built on top of AI models show the same thing at a much smaller scale: people pay for AI that does a specific job. These have verified revenue in our data (we don't know which AI models each one uses):
| Business | Revenue |
|---|---|
| TypingMind A chat front-end for LLMs that became a solo founder's path to financial independence. | ~$130–160k / month founder newsletter, Oct 2025 |
| AEO Engine An AI-search SEO agency that gets clients cited by ChatGPT and AI Overviews. | $164,836 MRR TrustMRR, Oct 22 2026 |
| Humanize AI Text (AE-intelligence) A one-feature tool that rewrites AI text to read human: $851k lifetime. | $28,466 MRR TrustMRR, Oct 24 2026 |
| Promptwise Generative AI video, image and audio tools sold to a paid creator community. | $62,550 MRR TrustMRR, Oct 22 2026 |
More: how to make money with ChatGPT, how to make money with AI, how to automate your business with AI and how much TypingMind makes (a solo-founder chat app on top of OpenAI's and others' models).
More AI revenue breakdowns
Other big AI companies (reported figures): how much Anthropic makes, Cognition (Devin), Cursor, Perplexity, Lovable and Higgsfield. All of them side by side: how much do AI companies make?
Compare every AI company we cover: how much do AI companies make? (verified and reported revenue, side by side).
FAQ
How much does OpenAI make?
OpenAI told investors it hit roughly $50 billion in annualized revenue at the end of September 2026 (first reported by the FT, confirmed by CNBC, Reuters and Bloomberg on Oct 8, 2026). Its actual revenue was $13.07 billion in 2025 and about $12.4 billion in the first half of 2026 ($5.7B in Q1 plus $6.7B in Q2, our addition of reported figures). All of this is reported, not verified: OpenAI is private.
Why did OpenAI's revenue go from $70 billion to $50 billion?
It didn't shrink. The roughly $70 billion figure reported in late September "grossed up" sales made through cloud partners to match how Anthropic counts revenue. OpenAI's own number, which leaves most partner sales out, was roughly $50 billion at the end of September (CNBC, Axios, Reuters, Oct 8, 2026). Both are run rates, not a year of actual sales.
How much did OpenAI make in 2025?
$13.07 billion, up from $3.7 billion in 2024, according to audited financial statements obtained by Ed Zitron and checked by the Financial Times (Ars Technica, Quartz, Jun 2026). Total costs were about $34 billion, for an operating loss of $20.92 billion.
Is OpenAI profitable?
No. Its 2025 operating loss was $20.92 billion, and the reported net loss was about $38.5 billion including a one-time charge of about $30 billion tied to its for-profit conversion (Ars Technica, Quartz, Jun 2026). In Q1 2026 it burned $3.7 billion of cash on $5.7 billion of revenue (The Information, via Reuters).
How many people pay for ChatGPT?
OpenAI's latest count is more than 50 million consumer subscribers and more than 9 million paying business users (OpenAI, Feb 27, 2026), when ChatGPT had 900 million weekly users. It now says more than 1.2 billion people use ChatGPT each week (Oct 7, 2026) but has not shared a newer subscriber number.
How much does ChatGPT cost?
From chatgpt.com/pricing, read Oct 25, 2026 (US prices): Free, Go at $8 a month, Plus at $20 a month and Pro from $100 a month in three usage tiers, the top one $500 a month (DevDay, Sep 29, 2026). Business and Enterprise plans are priced per user, and developers pay per use through the API.
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