Anthropic and OpenAI Count Cloud-Partner Revenue Differently, Complicating Investor Comparisons
Summary
- • Anthropic books gross cloud-partner sales; OpenAI books only its net share
- • The mismatch makes the two firms' annualized revenue figures hard to compare directly
- • Anthropic reported $65B annualized revenue in July; OpenAI was near $50B in late September
- • Figures come from investor-shared data, not audited GAAP accounts
Details
Anthropic records the full gross amount of sales made through cloud partners
For example, sales through AWS are counted at full value in annualized revenue, before any partner share is deducted, which tends to produce a larger headline number.
OpenAI records only its net share of sales after partner cuts
For example, sales through Microsoft Azure are counted only for the portion OpenAI keeps, producing a smaller headline figure for the same customer spend.
Anthropic reported $65B annualized revenue as of July on a gross basis
Because the figure is gross, it includes amounts partners retain, so it is not directly comparable to a net number.
OpenAI's run rate was about $50B in late September, targeting $70B+ by year-end
Both figures are on a net basis. The $50B number was reportedly also published by the Financial Times on Oct 8.
Earlier $70B estimates for OpenAI reportedly used Anthropic's gross methodology
Applying gross accounting to OpenAI yields a figure roughly $20B above the net-basis number, showing how much method alone moves the headline.
All figures rely on investor-shared data rather than audited GAAP reporting
Neither company's annualized revenue is a standardized accounting measure, so definitions can differ and numbers cannot be independently verified.
Coverage of the discrepancy coincided with declines in AI-related stocks
Reports noted the stock drops alongside the story, but a causal link has not been established.
Financials = revenue accounting, Stat = reported figure, Insight = analysis, Context = background, Market Impact = market reaction
What This Means
Headline revenue numbers for the two leading AI labs are not apples-to-apples, because one counts gross cloud-partner sales and the other counts only its net take. Anyone comparing valuations, growth, or market share from these figures could misjudge which company is ahead. Until the firms use a common definition or publish audited numbers, adjusting for the difference matters more than the headlines.