Reports that OpenAI’s annualised revenue is running at about 50 billion dollars, below the roughly 68 to 70 billion previously signalled, rattled shares in artificial intelligence and chip companies this week.
Coverage of the sell-off cited a fall of about 1.4 percent in the Nasdaq 100, a drop of around 3.4 percent in a closely watched chip gauge, and a decline of about 0.5 percent in the S and P 500. The moves show how sensitive the market has become to any hint that AI spending may slow.
The figures, however, are not settled fact. Other reporting suggests OpenAI’s revenue may reach, or even top, 70 billion dollars by the end of 2026. Readers should treat the numbers as conflicting reports rather than a confirmed result.
That uncertainty is part of the story. OpenAI is a private company, so its finances arrive through leaks and partial accounts instead of the regular reports that listed firms must publish.
Investors have good reason to watch closely. Enormous sums are flowing into data centres, chips and power on the assumption that AI revenue will keep climbing fast. A slower path would change the maths for many companies at once.
Chip makers sit near the centre of that bet. Their shares have risen strongly on expected demand, which also makes them quick to fall when the demand story is questioned.
Analysts caution against reading one report as a verdict. Revenue figures can be measured in different ways, and annualised numbers can swing with a few large deals.
For now, the market reaction says more about nerves than knowledge. Until clearer figures appear, AI shares are likely to stay jumpy, rising and falling with each new report.
The gap between the two revenue figures turns out to be largely an accounting question. The higher number near 70 billion dollars counted gross partner revenue to make OpenAI comparable with Anthropic, which books the full customer payment on cloud-partner sales. The near-50 billion dollar figure counts only OpenAI’s own share as net revenue, and both treatments can comply with accounting standards depending on who controls the customer relationship. Growth remained steep, at a reported 77 percent in the third quarter and 107 percent for enterprise. Oracle fell around 5 percent in the sell-off, Nvidia near 3 percent and Intel about 5 percent.
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