Anthropic's revenue surpasses OpenAI by at least 35%, altering the landscape of the IPO race.

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Six months ago, Anthropic was still lagging far behind, but now it has left OpenAI in the dust.

On May 26, The Information reported that Anthropic's annualized revenue has approached $45 billion, while OpenAI's annualized revenue has just surpassed $30 billion and is currently estimated at about $33 billion. This means Anthropic's revenue scale is at least 35% higher than OpenAI's.

This figure was almost unimaginable six months ago. At the end of 2025, Anthropic's annualized revenue was only $9 billion, less than half of OpenAI’s.

In Five Months, Anthropic’s Revenue Increased Fivefold

In the first five months of this year, Anthropic’s revenue grew by about five times. Over the same period, OpenAI’s revenue grew by over 50%—an impressive figure in any industry, but relatively flat by comparison.

A person familiar with the matter told The Information that although OpenAI's annualized revenue has surpassed $30 billion, "it is not much higher at present."

The two companies have different business models: OpenAI's revenue mainly comes from ChatGPT subscriptions, while Anthropic mainly relies on selling API access for AI programming and other white-collar work scenarios to enterprises. However, the two are still direct competitors in their respective markets, and investors in the public market will inevitably compare them side by side.

An Even Wider Gap in Profitability

Revenue is only one side. More crucial is profitability.

Anthropic is expected to achieve about $559 million in operating profit in the second quarter, with an operating profit margin of about 5%.

In stark contrast, OpenAI's first quarter operating loss rate reached as high as 122%—and this is after excluding major projects like equity incentives. Translated, the operating loss for that quarter was at least $7 billion.

OpenAI's earlier forecasts this year showed it would burn about $25 billion in cash for the year, with AI server rental costs alone reaching $32 billion. In addition, OpenAI must allocate 20% of its total revenue to Microsoft, with the agreement lasting until 2030—if this year’s revenue reaches the previously forecast $30 billion, this share will amount to about $6 billion.

Anthropic also needs to share revenue with cloud partners, but Anthropic’s revenue calculation includes the total amount sold via other cloud service providers, part of which will eventually be returned to those partners.

It is worth noting that Anthropic’s current profitability is not without risks. With rapid revenue growth, Anthropic needs to significantly expand server resources, which may cause it to fall into losses again.

IPO Race: The First-Mover Advantage Is Shifting

This reversal of revenue and profitability is directly affecting the listing pace of the two companies.

The report noted that OpenAI's CFO, Sarah Friar, had previously expressed concerns to CEO Sam Altman about pushing ahead with the listing too quickly. But now, things have changed—in the face of financially stronger Anthropic, OpenAI going public first has instead become the "more financially prudent choice."

The logic is simple: if Anthropic submits its IPO application first and is successfully listed, public market investors will directly compare the two companies’ financial data. At that time, Anthropic, with faster revenue growth and already profitable, will have a clear advantage in the valuation narrative.

At the current growth rate, Anthropic is expected to surpass mature tech companies like Netflix, SAP, and Salesforce in revenue within the next year.

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