OPENAI HITS $40B RUN RATE, ASSUMING GROWTH WORKS LIKE ITS CHATBOT ANSWERS MATH
The AI giant's IPO math checks out as long as nobody asks it to show its work.
OpenAI's annualized revenue run rate has surged past $40 billion, roughly doubling in months, as the company barrels toward a public offering built on the same confidence-without-verification model that powers its chatbot's answer to 'what is 847 times 12.' Analysts note the projection assumes current growth continues indefinitely, a forecasting method previously associated only with perpetual motion machines and crypto whitepapers.
The draft S-1 reportedly includes a risk factor stating 'Our models may fabricate revenue figures; see also Management's Discussion,' which then cites a footnote that does not exist, a detail underwriters have classified as 'on brand.' Investors, undeterred by a product that occasionally invents case law for lawyers, are said to be thrilled, having apparently concluded that a company inventing facts is fine as long as the facts are big enough.
'The $40 billion run rate reflects durable demand and several assumptions we have asked the model not to examine,' said OpenAI CFO Lena Crowe. 'Investors appreciate transparency about the opacity.' When asked to project its own IPO valuation, the company's flagship model reportedly generated a confident, precise, entirely fabricated number, which the company has since adopted as official guidance.
