Breaking

Anthropic's $65 billion run rate still leads OpenAI after a net-revenue adjustment

September 3, 2026 at 05:11 EDT

Foundation Models
Sales & Business
Funding & M&A

Anthropic is heading toward an IPO with annualized revenue above $65 billion, versus more than $40 billion at OpenAI, but the headline $25 billion gap is not a like-for-like scoreboard: the two labs book some cloud-partner sales on different bases, and a net restatement would narrow — not erase — Anthropic's lead.

September 2026 · Anthropic vs OpenAI

A $25B revenue gap that is real — and not a clean scoreboard

Anthropic’s annualized run rate tops $65 billion versus more than $40 billion at OpenAI. Different cloud-partner booking shrinks the lead only modestly.

$65B+

Anthropic run rate

$40B+

OpenAI run rate

$25B

Headline gap

6–10%

Net-restatement hit

Annualized run rate, drawn to scale

Each block = $5 billion. 13 blocks versus 8 blocks.

$65B+

Anthropic

$40B+

OpenAI

How a $100 cloud sale is booked

1. Customer

Pays $100 via a cloud partner

→

2. Anthropic

Books the full $100, partner cut as expense

→

3. OpenAI

Books only its share on some partner sales

The lead survives a restatement

A 6–10% net hit would still leave Anthropic about $19–21 billion ahead. Q2 preliminary revenue topped $11.5 billion, more than 14× a year earlier.

The scoreboard is still messy

OpenAI has called Anthropic’s gross method inflated. Run rates annualize a short period, and the two books are not apples-to-apples.

IPO filings will have to justify the treatment

SEC correspondence around Anthropic’s listing should show how it defends gross booking. Watchers are looking at EBITDA, not just the $65 billion headline, for a cleaner profit read.

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