Anthropic vs. OpenAI Revenue Gap: Differences in Accounting Methods Are Key
nashnova research
Anthropic's annualized revenue tops $65 billion, roughly $25 billion ahead of OpenAI — but the two companies book cloud-partner sales differently, making a raw comparison misleading.
Both sell AI — why do the books look so different?
The core difference is an accounting concept: gross vs. net revenue recognition. Anthropic books the full amount of Claude sales through cloud partners as revenue, then records the partners' cut as an expense.
OpenAI books only the share it actually keeps from certain partners, including Microsoft. The partners' portion never hits the top line.
This means → even if both companies sold the same dollar amount of services, Anthropic's reported revenue would be inherently higher.
Who gets to book the "gross" number — and why?
Accounting professor Francine McKenna says the key question is "who is the principal and who is the agent" — who controls the customer relationship and who is responsible for delivery.
Anthropic considers itself the principal in each transaction, so it books gross; OpenAI believes net better reflects its actual take. In plain terms = one vendor counts the stall rent inside total sales, the other counts only what's left after rent — neither method breaks the rules.
McKenna notes that "two companies with the same business model can absolutely reach different conclusions," depending on contract terms and the rationale each files with the SEC.
If you used the same ruler, how much would the gap shrink?
A person familiar with Anthropic's finances says switching to net would reduce its revenue by only about 6% to 10%.
By that math, Anthropic would still lead OpenAI by roughly $19 billion to $21 billion. This means → the accounting difference explains only a small slice of the gap — the bulk still reflects a real difference in business scale.
What should investors watch next?
Lucas Ward, CEO of financial-verification platform Oath, says he will focus on Anthropic's EBITDA — earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization — to gauge real profitability.
In plain terms = revenue can be inflated by how you book it, but EBITDA is much harder to distort with accounting choices — it sits closer to how much the company actually earns.
Once Anthropic files its IPO prospectus, SEC correspondence will become public. That will give outsiders the first chance to systematically verify whether the two companies' revenues are truly comparable.
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