OpenAI Nears $50 Billion Revenue as AI Rivals Deploy $500 Billion Financing

3 articles · Updated · Fortune · Oct 9

OpenAI told investors its annualized revenue was approaching $50 billion at the end of September, a key metric as AI labs lean on aggressive financing to fund expansion.
That revenue underpins a broader race in which chip and AI companies are tying customers closer through debt, capital partnerships and equity incentives rather than competing on technology alone.
Nvidia has lined up more than $500 billion in third-party capital for customer AI infrastructure, while Broadcom has discussed roughly $30 billion in debt to help OpenAI buy jointly developed chips.
AMD has offered OpenAI and Meta warrants for up to 320 million shares at a penny each, echoing financing models long used by industrial manufacturers to lock in demand.
The scale and opaque terms of those arrangements are drawing scrutiny ahead of potential IPOs for OpenAI and Anthropic, with investors likely to demand clearer disclosure on who bears the risk if growth slows.