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The earlier $68 billion figure reportedly included partners’ gross revenue, complicating the comparison even as OpenAI cited strong quarterly growth.
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OpenAI told investors its annualized revenue run rate was about $50 billion at the end of September 2026. That is below the $68 billion figure reported last month, but the larger figure reportedly included partners’ gross revenue, making the gap an unreliable measure of a like-for-like shortfall. The disclosure coincided with declines in several AI-linked stocks, putting attention on which revenue measure investors are using to assess OpenAI’s performance.
OpenAI’s investor presentation cited third-quarter run-rate growth of 77% overall and 107% for its enterprise business.
The $68 billion figure reportedly included partners’ gross revenue and was presented as a way to compare OpenAI more directly with Anthropic.
Nvidia, Oracle, CoreWeave, Microsoft and Broadcom shares fell in afternoon trading after the disclosure.
OpenAI told investors it reached roughly $50 billion in annualized revenue at the end of September 2026, CNBC confirmed on October 8. Nvidia, Oracle and CoreWeave shares fell after the disclosure. The number was below the $68 billion widely reported last month, but an accounting distinction complicates that apparent gap.
The decline spread beyond those three companies. Microsoft and Broadcom also fell in afternoon trading Thursday, according to Investor’s Business Daily. The market reaction reached several AI names as investors absorbed the details of OpenAI’s financial update.
The Financial Times first reported the $50 billion figure, according to CNBC, which subsequently confirmed it. OpenAI shared the financial update in an investor presentation, a person familiar with the matter told CNBC. The presentation paired the revenue marker with company-supplied growth figures for the third quarter.
The previously reported $68 billion included gross revenue from OpenAI’s partners, CNBC’s unnamed source said. The person described that broader figure as helping investors make a more direct comparison with Anthropic. Partner revenue was therefore part of the larger headline number, not simply a detail about OpenAI’s own sales.
Investor’s Business Daily framed the disclosure differently, describing annualized revenue as roughly $20 billion below projections. It attributed the underlying report about financial documents shared with investors to the Financial Times, citing unnamed sources. CNBC’s partner-revenue explanation qualifies that shortfall framing.
OpenAI’s presentation cited 77% total run-rate growth during the third quarter, according to the person familiar with it. The enterprise business’s run rate grew 107% over the same period. These were company-supplied growth figures shared with investors, with enterprise growth exceeding the overall figure in the presentation.
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