Anthropic Passes OpenAI on Revenue for the First Time
Reporting this week marks the first time Anthropic has surpassed OpenAI on quarterly revenue, with The Decoder citing $11.6 billion against OpenAI's $6.7 billion for the period ending in June, alongside a small operating profit for Anthropic. Coverage points to enterprise coding workflows, particularly Claude Code, as a major driver, while Bloomberg separately describes more than $65 billion in annualized revenue and a sevenfold increase from last year's pace ahead of a potential IPO. The Wall Street Journal characterizes OpenAI's second-quarter sales as tepid relative to Anthropic, though The Information reports OpenAI gaining share among OpenRouter customers. Sam Altman also linked slower release pacing to internal misalignment findings. Revenue metrics and reporting periods differ across outlets, so comparisons require careful scrutiny.
Anthropic Passes OpenAI on Revenue for the First Time
Anthropic has passed OpenAI on revenue for the first time in the AI race. Anthropic hit $11.6 billion and posted a small operating profit, while OpenAI's revenue rose to $6.7 billion in the quarter ending in June.
Key takeaway
Enterprise coding tools such as Claude Code are delivering stronger near-term revenue than broad consumer chat, reshaping vendor lead narratives.
What happened
According to The Decoder, Anthropic surpassed OpenAI on quarterly revenue for the first time, reporting $11.6 billion versus OpenAI's $6.7 billion in the quarter ending in June, and posted a small operating profit.
Bloomberg coverage cites people familiar with the matter on more than $65 billion in annualized revenue, up more than sevenfold from last year, while the Wall Street Journal describes tepid OpenAI second-quarter sales growth relative to Anthropic.
Evidence
Anthropic surpassed OpenAI on quarterly revenue for the first time at $11.6 billion versus $6.7 billion in the quarter ending in June.
The Decoder · attributed
Anthropic hit $11.6 billion and posted a small operating profit, while OpenAI's revenue rose to $6.7 billion in the quarter ending in June.
Anthropic posted a small operating profit alongside its revenue lead.
The Decoder · attributed
Anthropic hit $11.6 billion and posted a small operating profit, while OpenAI's revenue rose to $6.7 billion in the quarter ending in June.
Claude Code is cited as a major driver behind Anthropic's revenue outperformance.
The Decoder · attributed
Anthropic surpassed OpenAI in quarterly revenue for the first time, reaching $11.6 billion compared to OpenAI's $6.7 billion, driven largely by the success of its coding tool Claude Code.
Anthropic is on track for more than $65 billion in annualized revenue, up more than sevenfold from last year's pace.
Bloomberg Technology · attributed
Anthropic PBC is on track to generate annualized revenue of more than $65 billion based on its current performance, according to people familiar with the matter, up more than sevenfold from its pace at the end of last year
The Wall Street Journal reports OpenAI second-quarter sales showed tepid growth compared with Anthropic.
Wall Street Journal AI · attributed
The Wall Street Journal reports that OpenAI's second-quarter sales show tepid growth compared to its rival Anthropic.
The Information reports OpenAI is gaining against Anthropic among OpenRouter customers.
The Information AI · attributed
The Information reports that OpenAI is gaining market share against Anthropic among OpenRouter customers.
Sam Altman linked slower AI development pacing to internal research showing various degrees of misalignment.
Techmeme · attributed
Sam Altman says OpenAI's decision to pace its AI development was caused by a collection of research observations showing "various degrees of misalignment"
AI evaluation lab Irregular faces criticism over unanswered questions about its role in hacking incidents involving OpenAI, Anthropic, and Meta models.
Techmeme · attributed
AI evaluation lab Irregular's report on its role in hacking incidents involving OpenAI, Anthropic, and Meta models faces criticism over unanswered questions
Why it matters
Operators should treat headline revenue gaps as one signal among many, because developer routing layers and safety-driven release delays can diverge from quarterly sales totals.
Limits and uncertainties
Outlets cite different revenue frames, including quarterly totals near $11.6 billion versus $6.7 billion and separate annualized figures above $65 billion, so direct comparisons depend on the metric and period used.
Irregular's role in hacking incidents involving major model providers remains under criticism with key questions unanswered, limiting confidence in third-party evaluation transparency.
Practical implications
Teams integrating AI into high-value professional workflows such as coding may see stronger commercial traction than general-purpose consumer chat deployments.
Vendor selection should weigh routing-layer share trends on platforms like OpenRouter alongside headline revenue reports when planning multi-model architectures.
What to watch
Whether Anthropic sustains its quarterly revenue lead over OpenAI in the next disclosed reporting period.
Whether OpenAI's share gains among OpenRouter customers persist or reverse as enterprise contract revenue is reported.
How OpenAI's alignment-driven release pacing affects availability timelines for frontier capabilities.
