OpenAI’s third-quarter revenue rose 2.6-fold from the same period last year, reaching $10 billion (about 13.34 trillion won). Growth recovered as demand for its latest AI models and enterprise products increased, but its operating loss also expanded to $10.9 billion (about 14.54 trillion won). Rival Anthropic recorded $17 billion in revenue (about 22.678 trillion won) during the same period, surpassing OpenAI.
The Information reported on the 10th (local time) that OpenAI had told investors at a briefing that third-quarter revenue was about $10 billion, nearly 50% higher than in the previous quarter. Compared with revenue growth of just 17% in the second quarter, this marked a substantial recovery in growth.
The results were disclosed as OpenAI was finalizing a new funding round based on a company valuation of $1.25 trillion (about 1,667 trillion won).
The operating loss increased from $10.1 billion in the second quarter to $10.9 billion in the third quarter. The adjusted operating profit margin improved from negative 150% to negative 109% due to revenue growth, but the operating loss still exceeded quarterly revenue.
Revenue growth was driven by demand for the latest models, including “GPT-5.6” and “GPT-6 Astra,” as well as image-generation models. Increased model sales through APIs, along with growth in enterprise products and the advertising business, also contributed to the improved results.
In particular, the enterprise business showed notable growth. OpenAI President Greg Brockman recently said enterprise revenue had doubled in the third quarter, accounting for more than half of total revenue. The company is strengthening its push into the enterprise market by focusing investment on the coding tool “Codex” and expanding contracts with large corporations.
By contrast, Anthropic recorded approximately $17 billion in third-quarter revenue, up 47% from the previous quarter. It has widened the revenue gap since overtaking OpenAI in the second quarter of this year. Its operating loss was also just $567 million (about 750 billion won), far smaller than OpenAI’s.
However, the two companies use different methods of calculating profits and losses. OpenAI’s operating loss is reported on an adjusted basis that excludes stock-based compensation and other costs, whereas Anthropic’s operating loss includes stock-based compensation. Anthropic was reported to have posted operating profit of approximately $2.5 billion on an adjusted basis excluding those costs.
Anthropic also set the range for its IPO offering that day, targeting a company valuation of up to $1.4 trillion. The valuation gap with OpenAI, which was recognized at $1.25 trillion in the current funding round, would narrow to a maximum of around $150 billion.
OpenAI is also maintaining a large-scale consumer business. ChatGPT’s weekly active users, disclosed last month, totaled 1.2 billion, with the vast majority using the service for free. Paid users were reported to have approached 100 million in the third quarter.
Advertising is becoming a new revenue source for a consumer business with a large free-user base. OpenAI’s advertising revenue was reported to have reached $1 billion on an annualized basis in August.
OpenAI is expanding both its enterprise AI sales and consumer advertising business, but converting its rapidly growing revenue into profit remains a challenge.Especially, while actively seeking investment, the gap in revenue and profitability compared with Anthropic is expected to become a key evaluation criterion for investors.
Reporter Park Chan cpark@aitimes.com
