OpenAI accelerates revenue to $40 billion: ambitious pace amid personnel turbulence
A key player in the artificial intelligence market is showing impressive momentum: OpenAI's annual revenue run rate has reached $40 billion. This figure has doubled in just a few months, significantly strengthening the company's position ahead of a potential public offering. However, against this backdrop, there is a notable reshuffling in senior management, adding intrigue to the upcoming IPO.
What's behind the explosive growth?
There are several drivers, and they are interconnected. First of all, the ChatGPT subscriber base continues to expand. In parallel, sales of developer tools are growing rapidly—demand for code-related solutions is on the rise. Nor should the relatively young advertising business be overlooked, as it is already starting to generate substantial revenue.
Company President Greg Brockman told employees that revenue in July grew by more than 20% compared to June. These are not just numbers—according to my data, July was more profitable than the entire second quarter of this year.
The new pricing policy also played a role. The reduction in service costs in July, made possible by optimizing business processes, not only did not lead to a decline in revenue but also attracted new corporate clients. The expected downturn did not occur—on the contrary, we are seeing organic growth.
AI agents provided an additional boost. Products like Codex for programmers and ChatGPT Work for office teams are encouraging clients to upgrade to more expensive plans, increasing the average ticket size.
Management shake-up and IPO preparation
However, not everything is smooth sailing. In the coming weeks, Chief Revenue Officer Denise Dresser, who has been with the company for about eight months, is leaving. Global sales will be led by Dali Rajic, who previously served as president at cybersecurity company Wiz.
This is not the first loss in leadership. Dresser's departure follows the resignation of Brad Lightcap, part of whose responsibilities were planned to be transferred to her. A month ago, Fidji Simo also left for health reasons. Over the past few months, the company has also lost its head of ethics, head of security, and former chief strategy officer.
It is worth noting that preparations for the stock exchange are in full swing. OpenAI has filed for an IPO in confidential mode and recently bought back $7 billion worth of shares from employees using its own funds.
My take on the situation
Revenue growth to $40 billion is undeniably positive and will be a key argument for investors. However, such significant turnover at the highest level is a worrying signal. The question is whether financial momentum can offset the risks associated with management instability. Given that competitor Anthropic plans to go public as early as October with a valuation above $2 trillion, investors will have plenty of options to choose from. And here, much will depend on how convincingly OpenAI can present its growth story amid the personnel changes.