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As bad press swirls around artificial intelligence startup OpenAI, its genius CEO, Sam Altman, keeps winning.
information It was reported on Wednesday. Altman recently told OpenAI staff that the company has annual revenue of $3.4 billion. Bloomberg, Citing anonymous sources who confirmed the figure, The Information previously reported that the startup had annual revenue of $1.6 billion in the second half of 2023.
The company’s rapid growth shows that OpenAI remains the gold standard for AI innovation even as competition in the field heats up. OpenAI was last valued at about $86 billion.
A representative for OpenAI did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s request for comment, but told The Information that the reported financial details were “inaccurate” but did not provide any further information.
While the majority of OpenAI’s revenue comes from chatbot subscriptions, the company also makes money from a partnership with Microsoft that brings in about $200 million a year, Altman told employees, according to The Information.
OpenAI’s report of increased revenue comes just two days after Apple announced an anticipated AI partnership with the company. The collaboration will see OpenAI’s ChatGPT integrated with Apple’s new and improved Siri features, deploying the chatbot to billions of devices if users opt into the integration.
Neither company is expected to derive direct revenue from the agreement. Bloomberg The Times reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the deal, that Apple believes the price for incorporating OpenAI technology into its devices is fair.
Following Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference on Monday, BI’s Alex Bitar made the case that Altman was the real winner of the global tech conference. The partnership with Apple represents a major endorsement of both OpenAI and Altman at a time when startups are facing intense scrutiny for their safety efforts.
A group of current and former OpenAI employees published the findings in The New York Times earlier this month. report Concerns have been raised about the company’s financial motivations and commitment to safety: whistleblowers have accused OpenAI of making false promises about its commitment to developing responsible AI, and suggested the company is prioritizing growth and profits over safety.
Several high-profile employees have reportedly left OpenAI in recent months, including Jan Reicke, who oversaw the company’s superalignment strategy, and chief scientist Ilya Sustkever, who expressed concerns about Altman’s leadership last year.
OpenAI has also come under fire from Hollywood star Scarlett Johansson, who slammed the company for releasing a new AI model that sounded suspiciously similar to hers. Though the company denied that it had any intention of imitating Johansson’s voice, the similarities are obvious, and Altman made matters worse by posting “Her” on X, a reference to the 2013 film of the same name in which Johansson voiced an AI virtual assistant.
But even as the controversy swirls around OpenAI, the company continues to rack up wins. Maribel Lopez, an AI analyst and founder of research and strategy consulting firm Lopez Research, attributes Altman’s Teflon-like success to a series of smart business decisions made by the 39-year-old CEO.
“OpenAI had a big lead with their foundational models. They’ve been doing it longer and are perceived to be doing it well,” Lopez told BI about the company’s GPT models.
“The second reason is our relationship with Microsoft, which gives us confidence that it’s suitable for enterprise use,” Lopez added, referring to standards that many models must meet for adoption.
OpenAI’s new partnership with Apple has only further bolstered the company’s reputation and power in the industry, she said.
Apple CEO Tim Cook on Monday praised OpenAI for ChatGPT’s “world-class knowledge” and called the company “the best” in the industry.