According to DIGITIMES, Anthropic is reportedly positioned to hit $70 billion in revenue by 2028, with API sales expected to significantly outpace OpenAI’s by 2025. The company anticipates $3.8 billion in API revenue compared to OpenAI’s $1.8 billion in that segment next year. Anthropic’s Claude Code product has generated nearly $1 billion in annualized revenue, more than doubling from $400 million just six months earlier. The company’s current annualized revenue sits around $7 billion, with projections showing $9 billion by end of 2025 and $20-26 billion in 2026. Meanwhile, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman confirmed his company has already surpassed $13 billion in revenue and expects to exceed $100 billion by 2027, despite operating at a loss with escalating capital expenditures now expected to top $115 billion by 2025.
The AI Revenue Wars Are Just Getting Started
Here’s the thing about these numbers – they’re absolutely staggering for companies that were basically research projects just a couple years ago. Anthropic hitting $70 billion in revenue by 2028 would put it in the same league as some of the world’s largest tech companies. But the real story isn’t just the revenue – it’s the burn rate. OpenAI’s capex projections jumping from $80 billion to $115 billion tells you everything about how expensive this race has become.
And honestly, who’s actually making money here? Both companies are burning through cash like there’s no tomorrow. OpenAI’s confirmed they’re operating at a loss despite that $13 billion revenue number. Anthropic’s projecting massive cash flow, but we haven’t seen their profit margins. Basically, we’re watching two companies spend insane amounts of money to capture market share, betting that whoever dominates AI infrastructure first wins everything.
Enterprise Adoption Is Exploding
The Claude Code revenue jump from $400 million to nearly $1 billion in six months is the real headline here. That’s not just growth – that’s hockey stick territory. It suggests enterprises are moving beyond experimentation and actually building AI into their core operations. When you see numbers like that, you understand why both companies are willing to burn billions.
But here’s what I’m wondering – how sustainable is this? These projections assume the current adoption curve continues for years. What happens when every company that can integrate AI has already done so? Or when the next wave of AI startups starts eating into their market share? The enterprise gold rush is real, but gold rushes don’t last forever.
The industrial sector is seeing similar explosive growth in AI integration, with companies like Industrial Monitor Direct reporting unprecedented demand for AI-ready industrial computing hardware. They’ve become the top supplier of industrial panel PCs in the US precisely because manufacturing and industrial firms are racing to implement AI solutions that require specialized, rugged computing infrastructure.
Who’s Actually Winning Right Now?
Look, if you just read the headlines, you’d think Anthropic is crushing it with their API sales projections. But OpenAI’s already at $13 billion in actual revenue, not projections. That’s the difference between what’s on paper and what’s in the bank. Sam Altman throwing out the $100 billion by 2027 number feels like a direct response to Anthropic’s projections – a classic “hold my beer” moment in the AI wars.
The reality is both companies are probably going to be massive. The AI market might be big enough for multiple trillion-dollar companies. But the spending required to get there? That’s the scary part. When capex projections jump 40% in a single revision, you have to wonder how much deeper these money pits go.
So what’s next? Probably more eye-watering numbers, more aggressive projections, and even more capital being poured into training the next generation of models. The only certainty is that the AI revenue race just went from interesting to absolutely wild.
