OpenAI posted $5.7B Q1 revenue

The Information reported on May 21 that OpenAI generated about $5.7 billion in first-quarter revenue, citing two people with knowledge of the company’s financials. The report said the figure put OpenAI nearly $1 billion ahead of Anthropic in the same period and said growth was helped by the coding agent Codex, business sales and tests of ads on ChatGPT. (theinformation.com) The same social-media discussion that pushed the revenue number also circulated a claim that OpenAI posted roughly $7 billion in adjusted losses and that user counts peaked in February before declining. (money.usnews.com) Those two claims were not confirmed in the sources I could verify directly, and OpenAI had not publicly released first-quarter financial statements as of May 25. ### Where does the $5.7 billion figure come from? The Information attributed the $5.7 billion figure to two people with knowledge of OpenAI’s financials in a May 21 report. The outlet said first-quarter growth was boosted by Codex, by sales to businesses and by ad testing inside ChatGPT. (theinformation.com) OpenAI itself has not published a quarterly earnings release in the way a listed company would. That means the number should be treated as reported by a news outlet citing knowledgeable sources, not as a company-filed result. (theinformation.com) ### Did OpenAI also report a $7 billion adjusted loss? A May 24 X post said OpenAI posted about $7 billion in adjusted losses in the quarter. I could not verify that figure from OpenAI, Reuters, or an accessible primary document. The Information search results available to me surfaced the revenue figure, but not a directly viewable line confirming the adjusted-loss number. (theinformation.com) CNBC reported on April 28, citing the Wall Street Journal, that OpenAI had fallen short of internal revenue and user-growth estimates and that finance chief Sarah Friar had raised concerns about funding future compute agreements if the slowdown continued. (theinformation.com) That adds context to investor focus on costs and cash needs, but it is not independent confirmation of the $7 billion adjusted-loss claim. ### What do the user-growth claims amount to? CNBC reported on April 28 that OpenAI’s revenue and user-growth estimates had missed internal targets, citing the Wall Street Journal. (theinformation.com) The social claim that user numbers peaked in February and then declined appears directionally related to that reporting, but I could not verify the specific February peak from a primary source or directly accessible report. Because OpenAI has not publicly broken out current user figures in a quarterly filing, outside claims about month-by-month usage should be treated cautiously unless they are tied to named documents or executives. (cnbc.com) ### Why are investors arguing about the valuation now? OpenAI said on March 31 that it closed a $122 billion funding round at an $852 billion post-money valuation. The company said at the time that it was becoming “core infrastructure for AI,” and outside reports said the round ranked among the largest private financings in Silicon Valley history. (cnbc.com) Reuters reported on April 14 that some OpenAI backers were scrutinizing that $852 billion valuation as the company shifted toward enterprise customers to fend off competition from Anthropic, citing a Financial Times report. (cnbc.com) OpenAI told Reuters the fundraise was oversubscribed and reflected investor conviction in its direction, business momentum and long-term value. ### What else matters in the financial picture? Reuters reported on May 11 that OpenAI agreed to cap the total revenue it shares with Microsoft at $38 billion under their arrangement, citing The Information. (openai.com) The report said the change followed a renegotiation of the partnership and is relevant as OpenAI works through its financing structure ahead of a possible public listing. The next hard datapoints are likely to come from additional reporting, OpenAI financing disclosures, or any future IPO filing. (money.usnews.com) Until then, the verified pieces are narrower than the viral thread: The Information reported $5.7 billion in first-quarter revenue, OpenAI said it raised $122 billion at an $852 billion valuation on March 31, and Reuters reported a new $38 billion cap in the Microsoft revenue-sharing deal on May 11. (theinformation.com) (money.usnews.com)