The Pulse
OpenAI’s annualized revenue pace nears $70 billion
OpenAI’s annualized revenue run rate is approaching $70 billion, according to Axios, with business-to-business revenue more than doubling since July. The figure is a projection of the company’s current revenue pace, not a reported full-year
AI.info Team · Written with AI ·
OpenAI’s annualized revenue run rate is approaching $70 billion, Axios reported on September 29, citing people familiar with the company’s financials. The reported pace has risen more than 70% since the start of the third quarter, while business-to-business revenue has more than doubled since July. The figures point to a sharp rise in sales, but they do not show how much revenue OpenAI has booked over a full year or how much it keeps after costs.
Enterprise sales more than double
Axios’s sources said OpenAI’s business-to-business revenue grew more than 100% over the period. The report also said consumer revenue added during the third quarter exceeded the amount added during all of 2025. It did not give dollar totals for either segment, so the report describes the pace of growth rather than the size or profitability of each business.
Reuters separately reported the same near-$70 billion run rate and growth in enterprise sales, citing a source familiar with the matter. In its account, equity research analyst Gil Luria connected the acceleration to OpenAI’s computing needs and Oracle, a major infrastructure partner: “OpenAI accelerating growth is a very good sign for Oracle, as it reinforces OpenAI's ability to live up to its expectations for compute capacity.”
A run rate is not a full-year revenue total
The nearly $70 billion figure is an annualized run rate: a projection of a recent revenue pace across a year, not a statement that OpenAI has already earned that amount. Reuters notes that companies often calculate such a figure by multiplying a month’s sales by 12. The measure can rise quickly when sales accelerate, but it does not establish what a company will ultimately recognize over a full year.
That distinction matters especially for a company whose expenses Axios could not determine. Revenue growth alone does not reveal the cost of serving customers, building computing capacity or developing models, and the reported figure does not establish whether OpenAI is profitable. Neither Axios nor Reuters provided a breakdown of the costs associated with the growth.
The latest figure follows an August $40 billion mark
In August, Axios reported that an internal message from OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman put the company’s revenue run rate at $40 billion. The newer estimate is substantially higher, though the reports do not provide a common accounting definition or underlying monthly figures that would let readers independently reconcile the two numbers. The comparison is a sign of reported acceleration, not a substitute for published financial statements.
Spending will determine what the growth means
OpenAI’s expanding business sales may strengthen the case that companies are paying for its products at scale. But the central financial question remains unanswered: how much of that revenue covers the computing and other costs required to deliver the services. Until the company provides a fuller account of both income and expenses, the near-$70 billion run rate describes the speed of sales—not the earnings those sales produce.