OpenAI's Revenue Soars to $12B Amidst Explosive ChatGPT Demand and Strategic Funding Moves

OpenAI has experienced remarkable growth recently, with its annualized revenue surging to $12 billion, as reported by The Information. This represents a significant increase from approximately $4 billion in 2024 and positions the company to potentially exceed its 2025 revenue forecast of $12.7 billion. The driving force behind this impressive growth is the heightened demand for its ChatGPT service, primarily used by businesses and individuals for a wide range of programming and other tasks.

Weekly active users of ChatGPT have skyrocketed to over 700 million, encompassing both consumer and enterprise clients. This figure marks a notable increase from around 500 million weekly active users recorded at the end of March. The rapid expansion in user base is a pivotal factor contributing to OpenAI's revenue escalation.

Simultaneously, OpenAI is dealing with increased cash consumption. The company has revised its 2025 cash burn forecast to approximately $8 billion, up by $1 billion from earlier estimates. This adjustment indicates higher-than-anticipated expenditures related to server rental, likely exceeding the initially projected $14 billion. It plans to utilize funding for leasing additional chips to extend and operate its AI models efficiently.

In terms of financing, OpenAI is on the brink of completing commitments for its second fundraising round, aimed at securing $7.5 billion. Current investors such as Sequoia Capital and Tiger Global Management are contributing sizable investments, alongside other renowned venture entities like Dragoneer and Founders Fund.

Moreover, OpenAI and SoftBank have pledged to invest $18 billion each to form a joint venture for establishing data centers. They are in discussions over potential sites in states like Ohio and Nevada.

OpenAI is advancing with an unprecedented $40 billion funding initiative, with a pre-fundraising valuation reaching $260 billion. Post the acquisition of $10 billion in June, the company is now seeking investors for the subsequent $30 billion segment. Investors are nearing completion of their commitment for the $7.5 billion portion, with most pledging a minimum of $500 million per investment. SoftBank intends to provide the remaining $22.5 billion by year-end, conditional upon OpenAI restructuring to facilitate the public offering of its profit-driven division.

To entice more corporate subscriptions for its ChatGPT service, OpenAI is offering a bespoke version of its ChatGPT Deep Research feature, capable of generating comprehensive reports. Additionally, the enterprise edition of the ChatGPT service is available at a discounted rate of 10% to 20%. These efforts may intensify its rivalry with tech giants such as Microsoft and Google.

OpenAI's competitor, Anthropic, is also witnessing robust growth, with its annualized revenue achieving $4 billion, representing nearly a fourfold increase since the start of the year. Anthropic is engaged in negotiations for a new round of investment, potentially valuing it at $170 billion, which is triple its valuation earlier this year. The company projects cash consumption of $3 billion this year, following $5.6 billion last year. Leveraging its leading AI capabilities in programming tasks, Anthropic anticipates rapid revenue growth to $12 billion by 2026.