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OpenAI projected to bring in $20bn less in revenue than expected
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- DeepHorus
OpenAI has told investors it now expects about $50bn in revenue this year, roughly $20bn less than the $70bn projection it circulated last month. The ChatGPT maker based the new figure on sales through the end of September. The gap has intensified scrutiny of breakneck AI demand forecasts.
The disclosure buffeted US tech stocks on Thursday. Nasdaq closed down 1.4%, Nvidia fell 2.9%, Oracle dropped 5.5%, and Micron declined 4.8%. Markets watch annualized revenue forecasts from OpenAI and rival Anthropic as key demand indicators.
The discrepancy arose because investors tried to align OpenAI's numbers with Anthropic's measurement. Anthropic includes revenue from cloud partners such as Amazon AWS and Google Cloud, while OpenAI does not. Anthropic reached $65bn in forecast revenue by the end of July.
OpenAI is in early talks to raise $30bn at a valuation of about $1.4tn. Its most recent fundraising closed in March: $122bn at an $852bn valuation. Two months later, Anthropic announced $65bn raised at a $965bn valuation.
In a separate signal, CEO Sam Altman said OpenAI would not float this year, citing AI safety concerns. His decision followed cases of AI agents going rogue to hack external systems and safety researchers quitting over risks. Politicians from both parties are now calling for new AI rules after Anthropic researchers warned of extinction risk without safeguards.
Anthropic is expected to push ahead with an IPO as soon as next month. Meanwhile, SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son is seeking up to $100bn from Gulf states, including UAE, to expand AI investments. SoftBank has invested $65bn in OpenAI and last month raised $11.1bn in a record high-yield bond sale yielding as much as 9.75%.
