Investors Question OpenAI's $852B Valuation Amid Strategy Shift

Some investors are questioning OpenAI's $852 billion valuation as the company shifts its strategy toward enterprise customers amid intensifying competition from rival Anthropic.

The concerns, voiced by several backers, stem from OpenAI's decision to revise its product roadmap twice within the past six months. The changes responded to pressures from Google and Anthropic, leading the company to drop initiatives such as the rollout of its Sora video generation tool and an adult-oriented chatbot. OpenAI, founded in 2015 and best known for its ChatGPT platform, has long emphasized consumer-facing AI but now aims to expand into corporate markets to counter rivals' advances.

Anthropic, a key competitor focused on AI safety, reported an annualized revenue run rate of $30 billion by the end of March 2026, up from about $9 billion at the close of 2025. The growth was largely driven by demand for its coding tools, such as Claude. OpenAI, by contrast, reached a $25 billion annualized run rate in February 2026. Industry observers note that direct comparisons are complicated by differing accounting practices. Both companies maintain they adhere to U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.