OpenAI brings annual revenue to $10B by developing ChatGPT

OpenAI has hit $10 billion in annual recurring revenue, or ARR, less than three years after launching its popular ChatGPT chatbot, Report informs via CNBC.

The figure includes sales from the company’s consumer products; ChatGPT business products; and its application programming interface, or API. It excludes licensing revenue from Microsoft and large one-time deals, according to an OpenAI spokesperson.

For all of last year, OpenAI had around $5.5 billion in ARR. Reaching its meteoric growth rates requires a substantial amount of cash. The San Francisco-based startup lost about $5 billion last year.

OpenAI is also targeting $125 billion in revenue by 2029, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be named because the details are confidential. The Information first reported on OpenAI’s revenue ambitions.

The new revenue metrics give some context to OpenAI’s monster valuation. OpenAI closed a $40 billion funding round in March, marking the largest private tech deal on record. At today’s metrics, OpenAI is valued at about 30 times revenue, which highlights the hyper growth expectations by some of its largest investors. OpenAI is backed by Japan’s SoftBank, Microsoft, Coatue, Altimeter, Thrive and others.

OpenAI burst onto the scene with the release of the consumer version of ChatGPT in late 2022, and began launching business products the following year.