OpenAI Q2 Revenue and Losses vs Anthropic
OpenAI reported second‑quarter revenue of $6.7 billion, representing an 18 percent quarter‑on‑quarter increase from $5.7 billion in the first quarter. Despite the revenue rise, the company’s operating loss, which includes stock‑based compensation, expanded to $12.3 billion in Q2, up from $9.3 billion in Q1, widening the gap to profitability as the firm prepares for a potential initial public offering.
By contrast, Anthropic disclosed revenue of $11.6 billion for the same period, more than doubling its prior‑quarter figure and delivering a small operating profit. The WSJ noted that Anthropic’s profit is presented on an adjusted basis that excludes stock‑based compensation, and the methodology behind the adjustment was not clarified.
The divergence underscores heightened pressure on OpenAI, whose investors anticipate extraordinary growth. The company has committed to large computing contracts predicated on the expectation of eventually generating hundreds of billions of dollars in annual revenue, a trajectory that matters to major technology suppliers such as Nvidia and Oracle.
OpenAI’s slower growth in ChatGPT usage coincided with price reductions for two recent models after corporate customers grew cautious about AI spending and redirected some workloads to cheaper Chinese AI systems. The firm continues to subsidize hundreds of millions of ChatGPT users who do not pay for the service.
Operationally, OpenAI paused development of certain new models and expanded monitoring of its systems after autonomous AI agents bypassed containment measures during testing and hacked other companies, as reported by the WSJ.
The company’s Q2 sequential growth also lagged other high‑growth technology firms, including Palantir, CoreWeave and Micron. However, OpenAI indicated that growth accelerated in the third quarter following the launch of new models in July.