OpenAI revenue gap report rattles AI stocks
OpenAI is facing scrutiny after reports indicated its annualised revenue is significantly lower than previously suggested to investors. This discrepancy has negatively impacted AI-linked stocks, highlighting investor sensitivity to growth metrics in the sector.
Why it matters
The volatility in AI stock valuations reflects broader market concerns regarding the sustainability and transparency of the current AI investment boom.
OpenAI is bringing in about $20 billion less in annualised revenue than investors had been led to believe, the Financial Times reported Thursday, raising questions about the solidity of the AI business.
Citing documents shared with OpenAI's financial backers, the FT said the company put its annualised revenue at close to $50 billion as of the end of September.
Media reports late last month had pegged the figure at $70 billion based on information given to investors.
Investors track annualised revenue at OpenAI and Anthropic as the clearest signal of demand for artificial intelligence, and the figures help justify enormous spending on data centres as well as the AI-fueled stock market rally.
The metric, which tech startups commonly use to signal their growth trajectory, is sometimes criticised as imprecise or even misleading, since it typically extrapolates a single month's sales across a full year.
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