OpenAI Tops $25B in Annualized Revenue, Takes First Steps Toward an IPO

OpenAI's annualized revenue has reportedly passed $25 billion, and the company is taking early steps toward a public listing — potentially as soon as late 2026.

Three key facts

Revenue is sprinting. The $25B figure annualizes current monthly revenue — a staggering growth rate, but also the cost of feeding a compute-hungry, capital-hungry giant.

The rival is right behind. Anthropic's annualized revenue has reportedly neared $19 billion — the gap between the two leaders is far smaller than outsiders assume, and this race is nowhere near settled.

The IPO signal. A company founded on a "nonprofit mission" heading toward an IPO is itself a marker of an era shift: when the burn rate outruns any private round that could fill the hole, public markets become the only pool big enough to catch it.

WangDou's Take

Preaching "AGI is for all of humanity, we're not just here for money" while quietly lining up to ring the bell — burn tens of billions a year and someone has to foot the bill. $25B in revenue sounds huge, but for a company valued in the stratosphere the question was never how big the revenue is — it's how deep the hole is. The moment the prospectus drops, that "nonprofit origin story" filter should shatter.

Source: Crescendo AI — Latest AI News and Updates (June 2026)