Anthropic has reportedly hit an annualized revenue run rate of nearly $45 billion, more than quintupling its revenue in the first five months of 2026 and surpassing OpenAI by about 35%. The staggering growth comes after Anthropic was still trailing at $9 billion in annualized revenue at the end of last year — less than half of OpenAI's then-$20 billion run rate. The reversal has stunned the industry and sets up a dramatic showdown as both companies head toward initial public offerings (IPOs).
Even more striking are the profitability numbers. Thanks to strong demand from enterprise clients for high-value services, Anthropic expects to post an operating profit of $559 million in the second quarter, with a 5% operating margin — making it the first of the two to turn profitable. OpenAI, by contrast, is drowning in red ink. Burdened by hundreds of billions in server rental costs and supporting hundreds of millions of free users, OpenAI recorded a negative 122% operating margin in the first quarter, meaning a net loss of at least $7 billion for the quarter. Its annual burn rate is projected at $25 billion.
The business models also reveal each company's hand. Anthropic focuses on selling code-writing and white-collar automation tools to businesses, and even consolidates distribution revenue from cloud service partners. OpenAI, meanwhile, must permanently give 20% of its revenue to Microsoft and has been forced to cut back on costly projects like the Sora video model to conserve cash. OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar has reportedly expressed concern over CEO Sam Altman's rush to take the company public. But with a better-funded, profitable Anthropic closing in, racing to the public markets to raise cash may be OpenAI's only option.