OpenAI hit $10 billion in annual recurring revenue, fueled by ChatGPT subscriptions and API sales, as the company eyes a $125 billion revenue target by 2029.
The generative AI pioneer, backed by Microsoft (MSFT, Financial), crossed the $10 billion ARR mark this year—up from roughly $6 billion a year ago—driven by more than 3 million paid ChatGPT subscribers (up from 2 million in February) and robust usage of its developer API.
Last week's $40 billion funding round led by SoftBank (SFTBY, Financial) valued OpenAI at $300 billion, underscoring investor confidence in its growth trajectory. CEO Sam Altman noted that ChatGPT's user base doubled to over 800 million people “in just a few weeks,” highlighting the speed of adoption.
OpenAI's spokesman told CNBC that API revenue—spanning enterprise integrations in finance, healthcare and retail—now accounts for roughly one-third of total ARR, underscoring the platform's broad commercial appeal. With enterprise clients building custom AI agents and startups embedding GPTs into new applications, OpenAI expects annual revenue to swell to $125 billion by 2029, projecting an average growth rate north of 70% per year.
Why It Matters: Breaching $10 billion in ARR cements OpenAI's role as a powerhouse in the AI economy and validates its subscription-plus-API business model for generating predictable, recurring cash flow. Investors should care because sustained ARR growth and lofty 2029 targets set the stage for valuation upside, even as competition heats up from Google and Anthropic.
