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Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang says OpenAI and Anthropic are reaching annualized revenue run rates of up to $100 billion
Friday, March 20, 2026 at 03:04 AM
During the GTC Financial Analyst Meeting, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang stated that leading AI startups like OpenAI and Anthropic are generating weekly revenue growth between $1 billion and $2 billion, suggesting an annualized run rate of $50 billion to $100 billion. These figures contrast with broader market assumptions regarding the profitability and cash burn of major AI labs and justify their continued massive investments in compute infrastructure.
Context
At the GTC 2026 Financial Analyst Meeting on March 18, 2026, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang provided a massive upgrade to the AI market narrative, claiming that top-tier startups like OpenAI and Anthropic are now seeing revenue increases of $1 billion to $2 billion per week. This implies an unprecedented annualized revenue run rate of $50 billion to $100 billion for the leading model builders. Huang noted that he wishes these companies were already public so the market could see the scale of their growth, which he believes validates the massive capital expenditure currently flowing into AI infrastructure.
This disclosure serves as a powerful rebuttal to Wall Street skepticism regarding the profitability of generative AI. While critics have long argued that these firms are merely "burning cash," Huang's internal visibility into their compute orders and growth suggests a rapid shift toward monetization. The news coincides with Nvidia’s own projection of reaching $1 trillion in cumulative AI hardware revenue through 2027, reinforcing the company's status as the primary beneficiary of a scaling AI economy.
Sources (9)
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