By Sophie Lindqvist

OpenAI generated $10 billion in revenue in the three months ended September, but the quarter also produced a $10.9 billion operating loss (the excess of operating costs over revenue). Bloomberg said the revenue marked the ChatGPT maker’s first $10 billion quarter.

Revenue rose about 50% from the second quarter and nearly tripled from the year-earlier level. The figures reached investors on Tuesday’s call, where President Greg Brockman and Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar spoke; OpenAI declined to comment publicly.

OpenAI’s adjusted operating margin, a company-adjusted measure of operating profit relative to revenue, was -109% in the third quarter. That was less negative than -150% in the second, but remained deeply below break-even. The available figures provide no reconciliation between the adjusted margin and the absolute operating loss, so the percentage improvement offers only limited comfort.

OpenAI also told investors that annualized revenue (a yearly rate implied by the latest period) stood at roughly $50 billion at the end of September. That figure fell short of the widely cited $68 billion number. Bloomberg said the higher number included gross revenue from partner companies, making it a different revenue measure rather than a clean like-for-like comparator.

Bloomberg attributed OpenAI’s increase to demand for its latest artificial intelligence (AI) software. It linked regained traction to newer models, lower prices and AI agents, described by Bloomberg as software built to “take over routine tasks for customers.” The figures do not separate the contribution of each factor, leaving the durability of the recovery unclear.

Anthropic generated roughly $17 billion in third-quarter revenue, according to Bloomberg. Its growth from the second quarter slowed to about 47%, compared with more than 140% in the prior quarter. The headline ranking still favored Anthropic, although both companies historically use different methods to derive revenue. The accounting distinction limits direct comparisons of scale and growth.

In the second quarter, Anthropic surpassed OpenAI in quarterly revenue for the first time, posting $11.6 billion against OpenAI’s $6.7 billion. OpenAI has now regained some momentum, but its $10 billion result did not reverse that ranking. Nor did the comparison settle which company converts revenue into profit more effectively; the figures lack a reconciled basis.

OpenAI is finalizing a fresh funding round at a $1.25 trillion valuation, Bloomberg reported, after pushing its public-listing timetable to next year. The company recently closed an initial $11 billion portion of that round. Anthropic is aiming for a $1.4 trillion valuation when it lists publicly later this month.

The prospective listings now sit against sharply different reported trajectories: OpenAI combines faster sequential growth with a $10.9 billion quarterly loss, while Anthropic reports a larger revenue base and slowing quarterly growth. OpenAI’s lower announced valuation does not remove those contrasts, and Anthropic’s listing target remains a stated ambition rather than a completed transaction.

What does this change for investors?

It changes the balance of evidence, not the underlying risk. OpenAI has demonstrated renewed reported revenue growth after trailing Anthropic in the second quarter, and its new models, pricing and agent products offer identifiable commercial levers. Yet the $10.9 billion operating loss, negative margin and delayed listing leave profitability unproven.

For investors, the $1.25 trillion round shows that OpenAI can still attract substantial capital, although that valuation sits below Anthropic’s $1.4 trillion listing ambition. Neither valuation can be tested against current profit because the figures provide no directly comparable profit measure.

The next test is sustained growth after price reductions and newer products, with narrowing losses needed to justify next year’s listing. Without that evidence, another valuation headline will add little to the investment case.