OpenAI’s financial results are improving, at least in terms of revenue. However, this may not be enough for investors, given that the group led by Sam Altman is growing at a much slower pace than its main competitor, Anthropic. According to a scoop by The Wall Street Journal, OpenAI’s revenue is said to have grown by “only” 18% from the first to the second quarter.

Revenue for the second quarter of 2026 is said to have reached $6.7 billion. According to reports, Anthropic, by contrast, reportedly posted $11.5 billion in revenue for the same period. In Q1, OpenAI is said to have generated $5.7 billion in revenue.

This is hardly a comfortable position for Sam Altman, who, in addition to losing the race to go public—Amodei is almost ready, while Altman is not—is also losing the revenue race.

Trouble at OpenAI

The figures arrive at a time of major upheaval in OpenAI’s upper ranks. Just last week, as WSJ also reported, revenue officer Denis Dresser was replaced. Dresser had held the position for less than a year.

During the company’s more recent period under Sam Altman’s leadership, there have also been other significant departures, such as that of Brad Lightcap, who was the group’s COO and whom many saw as Altman’s natural deputy.

High figures, but not high for the AI sector

If considered outside the context of the sector, the figures would be more than impressive. In fact, there are not many startups still in the private phase—that is, not publicly listed—that could even dream of generating more than $7 billion in revenue. However, OpenAI’s position is different.

Not only is the group already significant in size, but it also occupies a prominent position within a sector—the LLM developer sector—that is burning through capital at a very rapid pace.

Capital to fund such operations was also raised in the past on the promise of explosive growth rates—in revenue, not yet in profits—which, at least this quarter, apparently have not materialized.

In addition, The Wall Street Journal points out that OpenAI’s growth rate was lower than that of more established companies, such as Palantir.

Revenue growth itself, both current and expected in the future, will be crucial to the ability of the company led by Sam Altman to continue raising significant amounts of capital from both private and publicly listed investors, as in the case of Nvidia.

The headaches for Sam Altman never seem to end. And Anthropic’s competition currently appears to be insurmountable.