OpenAI and Anthropic count revenue differently, and investors are confused
Photo: Crypto Briefing
A $20 billion gap between OpenAI's reported run-rate and a widely circulated estimate shows how much accounting choices shape AI valuations OpenAI says its annualized revenue run-rate was approaching $50 billion as of late September 2026. A lot of investors had a different number in their heads: $70 billion. That $20 billion gap did not come from fraud, a leak, or a typo in a pitch deck. It came from two companies using two different methods for counting money that flows through cloud partners, and from investors who tried to make the figures comparable.
Source: Crypto Briefing
