OpenAI revenue run rate tops $40 billion ahead of IPO

OpenAI's annualized revenue run rate has surpassed $40 billion, roughly doubling from late 2025 as the ChatGPT maker accelerates toward an initial public offering, according to people familiar with the matter.

"Monthly revenue run rate grew by more than 20 percent in July," OpenAI co-founder and President Greg Brockman said in an internal announcement introducing a new chief revenue officer.

The surge reflects demand for AI coding tools and enterprise agents. Codex, OpenAI's programming system, and ChatGPT Work have seen rising corporate adoption, while subscription revenue and a nascent advertising operation add to sales. The pace marks a sharp jump from the $20 billion annualized rate that CFO Sarah Friar cited at the end of 2025, and it comes as OpenAI trims prices on select models to hold off cheaper rivals. The growth also shows how quickly generative AI has moved from consumer curiosity to enterprise procurement, with companies paying for tools that automate coding, customer support, and internal workflows.

The milestone sets up a high-stakes race to Wall Street. Both OpenAI and Anthropic have filed confidential IPO paperwork, with Anthropic — which reported a $47 billion run rate in May — expected to debut as early as this fall, ahead of OpenAI. The two companies' listings would be among the largest technology IPOs in years, giving public investors their first direct exposure to the generative AI boom.

Pricing cuts and a new sales chief sharpen the enterprise fight

OpenAI has cut prices on select models to defend share against Anthropic and low-cost international rivals, a move aimed at price-sensitive developers who might otherwise shift to open-source alternatives. The company also tapped a cybersecurity veteran as its second chief revenue officer in under a year to accelerate enterprise sales, a push to convert AI adoption into contracted revenue.

Anthropic's CFO Krishna Rao is leading preliminary meetings with prospective investors, structured as informational briefings rather than a formal roadshow, according to CNBC. Executives have refrained from disclosing valuation targets or financial forecasts, focusing instead on enterprise adoption of Claude models, the Claude Code programming assistant, and product releases. The two companies are fighting for the same corporate clients, with coding assistants emerging as a key battleground — OpenAI's Codex against Anthropic's Claude Code.

The competition extends beyond the two leaders. Low-cost open-source models and international providers are pressuring pricing across the industry, forcing OpenAI to balance growth against margin preservation. The price cuts, while modest, show that the company sees volume as the priority as it prepares to court public investors.

What the IPO race means for AI valuations

The revenue milestones give investors a rare window into two private AI giants' finances ahead of their listings. Direct comparisons are complicated by differing accounting methods, Bloomberg noted, even as both companies compete aggressively for corporate contracts. Retail sentiment on Stocktwits was bullish for both companies.

The listings will test whether aggressive growth can justify the massive capital expenditures required to train and deploy frontier models. If Anthropic lists first at a premium multiple, it may set the reference point OpenAI must beat. Investors will scrutinize whether the growth trajectories can be sustained alongside billions in annual compute spending, and whether price cuts erode the margins that underpin AI valuations. The outcome could reset how public markets price the entire generative AI sector, from Nvidia's chip customers to enterprise software vendors racing to embed AI features. A strong debut for either company would confirm the billions flowing into AI infrastructure; a weak one could chill funding for the entire sector. The listings also carry implications for the broader AI supply chain, from chipmakers like Nvidia to cloud providers that host model training. For now, the revenue momentum gives both companies leverage in pricing their offerings, but the market will ultimately decide whether growth at any cost is a sustainable model.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.