In a rare disclosure from an internal meeting, OpenAI’s CFO revealed that annualized recurring revenue (ARR) generated in July alone exceeded the total for the entire second quarter, driven by explosive adoption of GPT-5.6, enterprise Agents, and the programming tool Codex. Some analysts suggest this implies ARR for the year could approach $60 billion, narrowing the gap with Anthropic. At a critical juncture—valued at $852 billion and having confidentially filed its IPO application—this accelerating revenue trajectory may serve as the company’s strongest asset in its upcoming roadshow.
OpenAI is rapidly accelerating its revenue growth trajectory. The company’s Chief Financial Officer disclosed during an internal meeting that OpenAI’s incremental annualized recurring revenue (ARR) for July alone has already surpassed the total for the entire second quarter, signaling an acceleration in its commercialization efforts.
According to partial transcripts of an internal meeting obtained by CNBC on Thursday, OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar stated during a company-wide meeting on Wednesday that the company’s annualized recurring revenue for July exceeded that of the entire second quarter. "And the second quarter itself was quite strong," Friar added. Bret Taylor, Chair of the Board, also attended the meeting.
Previously, OpenAI reported in April that its annualized recurring revenue (ARR) for 2026 stood at $25 billion. Estimates suggest that the ARR for the second quarter (April–June) ranged between $25 billion and $42 billion, implying net new ARR additions of approximately $17 billion during the quarter.
Adding this to the $42 billion ARR already achieved by the end of June, OpenAI’s ARR approached $60 billion by the end of July, narrowing the gap with Anthropic. According to TickerTrends tracking data, Anthropic’s 2026 ARR was approximately $74.1 billion.
This statement comes as OpenAI faces intense competition from Anthropic and a wave of low-cost open-source models. The company is actively communicating signals of business health to its employees while building valuation support ahead of a potential large-scale IPO.
Growth Drivers: GPT-5.6, Enterprise Agents, and Codex
During the meeting, Friar and Taylor attributed the current growth momentum to three key drivers: the launch of the GPT-5.6 series of models, the new enterprise-focused AI Agent product ChatGPT Work, and the rapid adoption of the AI coding tool Codex.
Taylor acknowledged during the meeting that OpenAI had previously lagged behind Anthropic in the programming market and needed to catch up. However, he expressed encouragement over Codex’s growth trajectory. "You’ll see that users deeply embedded in Claude Code eventually face high bills and start looking for alternatives," Taylor said.
According to The Information, citing sources familiar with the matter in March this year, OpenAI’s annualized revenue had already surpassed $25 billion at that time. Since then, revenue growth has steepened significantly, driven by the explosive adoption of Codex.
Competitive Pressure: Anthropic Surpasses in Valuation, but Gap Continues to Narrow
Behind OpenAI's accelerated growth is an increasingly fierce battle for market share. Earlier this year, Anthropic surpassed OpenAI in valuation and announced in May that its annualized revenue run rate had exceeded $47 billion—compared to approximately $10 billion in total revenue projected for the full year 2025. Anthropic’s Claude Code tool has rapidly gained popularity among developers and is widely seen as the key driver behind its surging revenue.
Meanwhile, open-source models from China continue to exert competitive pressure. Earlier this month, China’s Moonshot AI launched Kimi K3, claiming it outperformed flagship systems from both OpenAI and Anthropic on certain benchmarks and is available at a lower cost.
At the conference, Taylor acknowledged Anthropic’s strong performance early in the year but emphasized that OpenAI is now regaining the initiative.
IPO Outlook: $852 Billion Valuation Awaits Market Validation
OpenAI, currently valued at $852 billion, faces mounting pressure to deliver performance commensurate with that figure. The company confidentially submitted its IPO filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in June, concurrently with Anthropic, though neither has disclosed a specific listing timeline.
On infrastructure investment, OpenAI disclosed to investors in February its plan to commit approximately $600 billion cumulatively to computing power by 2030. According to CNBC earlier this week, the company is currently in negotiations with NVIDIA for up to $250 billion in funding to lease a large-scale AI data center in Ohio.
To support these massive infrastructure expenditures, OpenAI must continuously expand its base of enterprise and developer users to generate sufficient revenue cash flow. July’s revenue figures could become one of the strongest arguments in its IPO roadshow.
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