OpenAI’s revenue climbed sharply in Q3, helped by enterprise customers and new AI models. The company reached $10 billion in quarterly revenue, but its adjusted operating loss rose to $10.9 billion. The figures highlight the challenge behind its growth: expanding sales while carrying the costs of a broad business.
Revenue is rising, but losses remain large
OpenAI’s Q3 revenue was about 50 percent higher than in Q2. That followed growth of 17 to 18 percent in Q2. A year earlier, the company brought in $3.9 billion, so revenue has more than tripled over the year.
Its adjusted operating loss moved from $10.1 billion in Q2 to $10.9 billion in Q3. The calculation excludes stock-based compensation, which reached $2.6 billion. OpenAI’s adjusted operating margin improved from negative 150 percent in Q2 to negative 109 percent, although it remained below the negative 97 percent recorded a year earlier.
These measures tell different parts of the story. The revenue jump signals that more customers are paying for OpenAI’s products, while the loss shows that costs are still substantial. A better adjusted margin suggests revenue is growing faster in relation to some operating costs, but the company has not yet turned that growth into a smaller reported operating loss.
Anthropic sets a tougher comparison
Anthropic reported Q3 revenue of $17 billion, up 47 percent, and an operating loss of $567 million including stock compensation. The company had already passed OpenAI on revenue in Q2 and recorded a small operating profit at that time.
The gap reflects different business priorities described in the source. Anthropic concentrates on enterprise customers and products including Claude Code and the Claude Cowork agent. OpenAI, meanwhile, supports broad research into robotics and operates a large consumer business. Those choices shape both the ways the companies earn revenue and the costs they carry.
Anthropic’s figures show that high revenue alone does not explain the difference in performance. Its Q3 loss was much smaller even with stock compensation included, while OpenAI’s adjusted loss excludes that expense. The comparison underscores why investors and customers may look beyond headline sales to understand how efficiently a company converts demand into operating results.
OpenAI is making enterprise sales a priority
OpenAI has been changing its focus to compete for business customers. Earlier this year, it discontinued projects such as a video app, directed more resources to its coding tool Codex, and hired Dali Rajic to lead sales. It also cut prices on new models.
Third-party data showed companies looking for less expensive alternatives to Claude, contributing to stronger API sales for OpenAI. President Greg Brockman described the period as an incredible revenue turning point and cited JPMorgan Chase as a major customer. He said the enterprise business doubled in Q3 and now makes up the bulk of revenue.
Lower prices may help OpenAI win customers weighing alternatives, while a stronger sales operation can make it easier to serve large organizations. The figures in the source suggest those efforts are already affecting revenue. They do not, on their own, show whether enterprise growth will eventually offset the expense of the company’s research and consumer operations.
ChatGPT adds a large consumer business
OpenAI’s consumer reach is also expanding. ChatGPT has 1.2 billion weekly active users and 100 million paying subscribers, following 22 million new sign-ups. The service is therefore an important part of the company’s business alongside enterprise and API sales.
The company’s new ChatGPT advertising product reached an annualized revenue run rate of $1 billion in August. A run rate expresses revenue at a particular pace as if it continued across a year; it does not mean the product brought in that amount during the year. Together with subscriptions, advertising gives OpenAI additional ways to earn from its consumer audience.
OpenAI is targeting an IPO next year and is raising capital at a $1.25 trillion valuation, but it has raised less than half of the planned $30 billion so far. Anthropic has also had to reduce its IPO valuation target significantly. Against that backdrop, OpenAI’s revenue growth is a notable milestone, but the scale of its losses and the contrast with Anthropic’s results remain central to the business story.