OpenAI tells investors annualised revenue nears $50 billion
Key Facts
OpenAI told investors its annualised revenue run rate for September 2026 was nearly $50 billion, according to a source who spoke to Reuters, compared with a higher figure it cited on a separate occasion. The company had told investors the run rate for the same month was approaching $70 billion, placing both figures within the same period. Reuters attributed the discrepancy mainly to an effort to draw a comparison with Anthropic and differences in the treatment of sales through cloud computing partners. Both figures represent an annualised revenue run rate, rather than revenue earned over a full year. The metric converts one month's revenue to an annual basis by "multiplying one month's revenue by 12", according to Reuters' explanation. The disclosed figures therefore reflect September's performance and how it was calculated when presented to investors.
On a quarterly basis, OpenAI's reported revenue was about $6.7 billion in the second quarter of 2026, according to Reuters. Anthropic's reported revenue for the same period was $11.5 billion, in a comparison where the treatment of sales through partners affects the reported revenue total. Anthropic pays cloud computing partners about 16% of every dollar it earns through them, according to the agency's analysis. These payments represent the partners' share of revenue generated through their channels and account for part of the difference between the value of sales and the company's share of them. On the two companies' accounting treatment, Axios reported that both methods comply with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, saying "both companies comply with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles".
In Australia, Nvidia-backed data centre operator Firmus withdrew an initial public offering that had aimed to raise $5 billion in October 2026, according to Reuters. The proposed offering would have given the company an equity valuation of US$30.6 billion, a valuation that met objections from investors. That compares with a valuation of $10.5 billion following a funding round completed in early August, meaning the offering was priced far above the previous round's valuation. The shift from private funding to the proposed offering was accompanied by that increase in equity value between August and October. In its official explanation for withdrawing the transaction, Firmus cited "recent market volatility and prevailing market conditions", according to Reuters Breakingviews.
Firmus operated two leased data centres, one in Melbourne and the other in Singapore, when it withdrew the offering, according to Reuters. Its expansion plans included collaboration with CDC to develop 1.6 gigawatts of AI factories, before the latter's chairman announced that the plan was no longer proceeding. Sources told Reuters that investors began withdrawing their orders following those comments, shortly before the Australian listing attempt was withdrawn. Alongside the setback to the collaboration plan, investors objected to proposed share-sale arrangements when trading began. Those arrangements would have allowed existing shareholders to sell more than half the shares immediately after trading started, adding shareholder exit terms to objections over the valuation and the risks of executing the expansion.
AI-related stocks fell in the U.S. market on Thursday, October 8, 2026, according to the Associated Press. Broadcom shares dropped 4.3% during the session, while Micron Technology fell 4.8%. The Nasdaq Composite closed down 1.3%, with technology stocks posting notable losses in that session. In Australia, shares in Maas Group, which is linked to investments in Firmus, fell 22.4% in the same session, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Trading in the group's shares was then temporarily halted on Friday morning, October 9, pending a further announcement, according to the broadcaster's coverage published that day.
After withdrawing its Australian offering attempt in October 2026, Firmus said it would pursue a private funding round, according to Reuters. That puts raising money from investors through a private round at the forefront of the company's next steps, after it had sought funding through an IPO. The company also said it was considering alternatives in international public markets, keeping listing options outside Australia within its funding plans. A person involved in the deal told Reuters that private funding would be followed by a Nasdaq listing, placing the private round before the listing in the proposed sequence. Firmus' announcement was limited to considering international public-market alternatives, while the identification of Nasdaq as a subsequent destination came from the person involved in the transaction.