OpenAI’s $10B quarter: revenue soars, losses widen
OpenAI posted $10 billion in third-quarter revenue, a 50% increase driven by enterprise sales and new AI models. But losses ballooned to $10.9 billion, with $2.6 billion going to stock-based compensation. Rival Anthropic, meanwhile, reported $17 billion in revenue and a $567 million loss—the same week it prepares to go public.
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30 SEC SUMMARY
- OpenAI’s Q3 revenue surged 50% to $10 billion, driven by enterprise sales and new AI models.
- Losses ballooned to $10.9 billion, with $2.6 billion going to stock-based compensation alone.
- Rival Anthropic posted $17 billion in revenue and a $567 million loss—far leaner than OpenAI’s numbers.
- OpenAI is raising $30 billion at a $1.25 trillion valuation but has only secured half so far.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Revenue soars, losses deepen
OpenAI closed its third quarter with $10 billion in revenue, a 50% jump from the previous quarter. The surge was led by enterprise sales and the release of new AI models. Three months earlier, revenue grew just 17-18%, and a year ago it stood at $3.9 billion—meaning annual revenue has nearly tripled.
Costs are rising faster than sales. Adjusted operating losses widened to $10.9 billion in Q3, up from $10.1 billion in Q2. Stock-based compensation alone reached $2.6 billion. The company’s operating margin did improve, moving from negative 150% to negative 109%.
Greg Brockman, OpenAI’s president, cited major customers like JPMorgan Chase and recent price cuts on newer models as key drivers. API sales climbed as businesses looked for cheaper alternatives to rival services.
Anthropic’s efficiency leaves OpenAI behind
Anthropic, OpenAI’s main rival, ended the quarter with $17 billion in revenue—nearly double OpenAI’s figure. Its operating loss, including stock-based compensation, totaled $567 million, a fraction of OpenAI’s $10.9 billion.
The gap reflects Anthropic’s focus on enterprise tools like Claude Code and the Claude Cowork agent. OpenAI, meanwhile, spreads investment across robotics, consumer products, and broader research, keeping its cost base higher.
Both companies are racing toward public listings amid market volatility. Anthropic plans to go public next week but has already slashed its valuation target. OpenAI aims for an IPO next year and is raising $30 billion at a $1.25 trillion valuation, though it has secured less than half the funds so far.
Enterprise and consumer growth split focus
OpenAI’s enterprise business doubled in Q3 and now supplies most of its revenue. The company brought in Dali Rajic as head of sales and doubled down on its Codex coding tool, pulling resources from projects like a video app.
On the consumer side, ChatGPT now counts 1.2 billion weekly active users and 100 million paying subscribers. OpenAI’s ad product reached a $1 billion annualized revenue run rate in August.
Talent shifts and strategic moves
OpenAI bought travel concierge startup Odessia earlier this year and shut it down the same day. Travel stocks fell 3-5% on the news, raising concerns about competition with OpenAI’s own partners.
The talent war between the two companies is heating up. Anthropic’s product lead for Claude Code, Catherine Wu, left for OpenAI to oversee Core Products. Another Anthropic employee, growth marketing manager Austin Lau, also joined OpenAI.
What this means
Lazyfounder analysis — our interpretation, not reported fact.
The numbers lay out two blueprints for AI scale. Anthropic’s $17 billion revenue and $567 million loss show a path to efficiency that keeps IPO bankers happy. OpenAI’s $10 billion quarter and $10.9 billion loss reveal the cost of chasing every corner of AI—enterprise, consumer, robotics—while investors still write checks at a trillion-dollar valuation. Founders now face a choice: chase growth at any cost or prove margins matter before the market cools further.
Key takeaways
- OpenAI’s enterprise business doubled in Q3 and now drives most revenue, proving B2B AI adoption is accelerating.
- Anthropic’s $567 million loss on $17 billion revenue sets a new benchmark for IPO-ready margins in AI.
- OpenAI’s $1.25 trillion valuation reflects investor appetite for scale, but the slow capital raise may signal caution ahead.
- ChatGPT’s 1.2 billion weekly users and $1 billion ad run rate show consumer AI can monetize, but enterprise remains the higher-margin segment.
Related on Lazyfounder
Sources
- The Decoder · 2026-11-11
Enterprise sales push OpenAI's quarterly revenue to $10 billion, though it still trails Anthropic
This story is an original summary drafted with AI by Lazyfounder from the reporting listed above and checked by automated validation. Facts are attributed to their original publishers; sections marked as analysis are Lazyfounder's. Where a source is in another language, facts were machine-translated and quotations are reported, not reproduced. Read the original coverage via the links, and see our AI policy and corrections policy.
About the author
Editor, Lazyfounder
Tarun Mottlia edits LazyFounders, covering Indian startups, funding rounds, AI and product launches. Every story on the site is AI-assisted and checked against its cited sources before publication.
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