Anthropic's annual revenue has approached $45 billion, which is at least 35% higher than OpenAI. In the first five months of this year, Anthropic's revenue grew about five times, while OpenAI's grew over 50% during the same period. More critically, regarding profitability: Anthropic expects an operating profit margin of approximately 5% in the second quarter, while OpenAI's operating loss margin reached as high as 122% in the first quarter. This reversal is reshaping the IPO competition between the two companies—who goes public first and whose valuation story is more convincing; the answers have quietly changed.

Author: Long Yue

Source: Wall Street Journal

Half a year ago, Anthropic lagged far behind, but now it has left OpenAI behind.

On May 26, according to a report from The Information, Anthropic's annual revenue has approached $45 billion, while OpenAI's annual revenue has just surpassed $30 billion and is estimated at around $33 billion. This means that Anthropic's revenue scale is at least 35% higher than that of OpenAI.

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

In five months, Anthropic's revenue has quintupled

In the first five months of this year, Anthropic's revenue grew about five times. During the same period, OpenAI's revenue grew over 50%—which is impressive in any industry, but appears rather mediocre in comparison.

An insider told The Information that while OpenAI's annual revenue has surpassed $30 billion, "it is currently not much higher."

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

The gap in profitability is even larger

Revenue is just one aspect. More critically, is profitability.

Anthropic predicts an operating profit of about $559 million for the second quarter, with an operating profit margin of about 5%.

The situation for OpenAI is entirely different. OpenAI's operating loss margin reached 122% in the first quarter—this is after excluding significant projects such as stock-based compensation. Converted, this quarter's operating loss is at least $7 billion.

OpenAI's predictions earlier this year indicated that it will burn approximately $25 billion in cash for the year, with AI server leasing costs alone reaching as high as $32 billion. Additionally, OpenAI also has to share 20% of total revenue with Microsoft, a deal that lasts until 2030—which, if this year's revenue reaches the previously forecasted $30 billion, this share will amount to about $6 billion.

Anthropic also needs to share revenue with cloud partners, but Anthropic's revenue statistics include the total amount sold through other cloud service providers, part of which will eventually be returned to these partners.

It is worth noting that Anthropic's current profitability status is not without risks. With rapid revenue growth, Anthropic needs to significantly expand its server resources, which may bring it back into a loss situation.

IPO competition: the first mover advantage is changing hands

This reversal in revenue and profitability directly affects the IPO timing of both companies.

The report pointed out that OpenAI's CFO Sarah Friar had previously expressed concerns to CEO Sam Altman about the urgency to push for an IPO. But now, the situation has changed—before the financially stronger Anthropic, being first to go public has instead become "the more financially prudent choice" for OpenAI.

The logic is simple: if Anthropic submits its IPO application first and successfully goes public, public market investors will directly compare the financial data of both companies. At that time, with faster revenue growth and having achieved profitability, Anthropic will have a clear advantage in the valuation narrative.

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