OpenAI Group PBC is falling further behind its rival Anthropic PBC, if its latest financials are any indication. The artificial intelligence model maker told investors that its revenue rose 18% on a sequential basis, from the first to the second quarter, but it also grew its net losses. The numbers are likely to be hugely disappointing for investors in the company, who have been hoping it would be able to show it’s catching up with Anthropic.
OpenAI said it generated $6.7 billion in sales in the three month period ending in June, up from $5.7 billion in the first quarter, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal. However, its operating margin dropped further into the red, which will likely deepen concerns that many have about the company’s ability to ever generate a profit.
The numbers, which come from undisclosed sources who are familiar with the company’s finances, are a big deal because they come ahead of a hotly-anticipated initial public offering, which many believe could take place later this year, the Journal reported. The report came just one day after Anthropic revealed that its revenue had jumped by more than 50% on a sequential basis to $11.6 billion in the second quarter. It also recorded a small operating profit for the first time.
While OpenAI and Anthropic are widely perceived to be the AI industry’s market leaders, the way their fortunes have diverged is quite astonishing. Last year, many considered OpenAI to be ahead of its rival due to its first-mover advantage and the stellar growth and brand recognition of ChatGPT, but this year the picture has changed dramatically. ChatGPT’s growth has stalled, while Anthropic has enjoyed huge success with its hit coding tool Claude Code, especially with enterprise customers. OpenAI has suddenly found itself on the back foot, and it has responded by letting go of a number of senior executives amid a pivot to AI agents that can automate business work.
In the latest high-profile departure, OpenAI got rid of its Chief Revenue Officer Denise Dresser, who had been with the company for less than a year. She was just the latest in a string of names to leave the company, following former Chief Operating Officer Brad Lightcap and Fidji Simo, who was previously seen as a potential heir to Chief Executive Sam Altman.
Normally, if a startup was able to generate more than $6 billion in quarterly revenue, it would be viewed as an incredible feat, but OpenAI is not any normal startup. The company has raked in around $180 billion in funding to fuel the AI boom, and that money has been spent lavishly on building AI data centers and massive contracts with cloud computing providers. However, those deals, which have helped to drive surging stock prices across the technology industry, are premised on OpenAI’s ability to pay its bills, but to do that it needs to generate hundreds of billions of dollars in annual revenue. If OpenAI fails to meet these growth targets and can’t meet its contractual obligations, the share prices of companies like Nvidia Corp., Oracle Corp. and other tech giants could nosedive.
