OpenAI annualised revenues $20B less than previously signalled

virtuosarmo

Gift link: https://giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/actions/redeem/f77156... Apparently they overstated revenue in an attempt to try to provide a direct comparison with Anthropic's reported metrics. From the article: "According to a person with knowledge of the matter, the discrepancy arose from attempts by OpenAI’s own investors to produce a direct comparison with Anthropic’s annualised revenues. The pair calculate the figure in different ways, with Anthropic including the revenue from sales via cloud partners such as AWS and Google Cloud, while OpenAI does not. Efforts to “gross up” OpenAI’s annualised revenue led to reports that the group’s annualised revenue had hit $40bn in August. The company has since told investors its revenues have grown more than 70 per cent, leading to the $70bn figure" **sorry the gift link can only be viewed 3 times..

zero_shift

Not a good day for OpenAI!

smalltorch

Is there any understanding of how it's even 50b? Makes no sense to me.

holaysuns

It's funny because this is the same thing that startups do all the time

gizajob

Sam A = SBF 2.0

wepple

This is an interesting shift compared to the past where OpenAI would’ve been public a long time ago (due to various regulations) so we would have much more direct insight. Right now we have a ~$1 trillion company which a ton of the “economy” and valuations are based on, with near zero information on how it’s doing.

surgical_fire

Annualised revenue is bullshit revenue for the gullible. My anuallized revenue is about 4.5M. I just need now to get a salary every day.

FLeXMurphy

Does this align with what Zitron was complaining about? Or is it a broken-clock-right-twice-a-day thing? neutral question.

underyx

The headline should've been "OpenAI annualised revenues $20B less than previously signalled by us". The FT is just reporting high number to create a story, then a low number to create another story.

vb-8448

You don’t say… Anyway, if I had a hundred bucks to burn, I’d bet this is a move to undermine Anthropic’s IPO.

m101

“However, the new investor presentation shows close to $30bn annualised revenues in July.” 2.5bn in revenue for all of July. That is a disaster. Squeaky bum time

the__alchemist

I'm waiting for the IPO; I was hoping we'd see less news like this prior. I'm not sure if plain shorting, or puts are the correct action; I suspect the former, as timing the latter is not reliable.

xyst

The crash of AI hype will be absolutely beautiful. Sure my 401K will probably tank, but this is honestly not the first time. Have plenty of assets not tied to stock market plus plenty of cash. Although, I suppose that saying, "the market can remain irrational longer than you can be solvent", is more true than ever.

johnnyApplePRNG

As NVIDIA hits it's highest price per share... like clockwork.

skeeter2020

>> "Oracle ... and other artificial intelligence companies" Uhm, that's definitely not their business, despite what they want to you to believe.

dmitrygr

“Annualized revenues” is the same as “oh you got married? At this rate by next year you’ll have 500 husbands” https://m.xkcd.com/605/ There is a reason we consider annual results. A year is a natural complete cycle. There isn’t equal amount of demand in January as in June for almost any product. So taking one good week and multiplying it by 52 (or 4 x 13 as the case may be) is at least naïve and realistically — deceptive.

tiahura

Phone call for Ms. Friar.

smcg

Does any company besides OpenAI get to misreport $20b in revenue and still get taken seriously?

dofm

Wait… this is about their annualized run rate , not their actual annual recurring revenue? Even their hokey run rate figure is falling?

piker

> OpenAI is under pressure to justify its $852 billion valuation to investors as it gears up for what is widely expected to be a blockbuster IPO. OpenAI confidentially filed its prospectus with regulators in June, and executives have signaled that the company is eyeing a 2027 debut. > Anthropic is also readying for a major IPO. The company has not officially disclosed when it plans to debut, but it’s been engaging in meetings with prospective investors and is reportedly seeking a $2 trillion valuation . In August, Anthropic told investors that its annualized revenue run rate hit $65 billion at the end of July. Is 15 billion annualized (30% more) supposed to justify the $1 trillion+ difference between the two valuations sought in any event? Or are Anthropic's numbers better because of margins or something?