(June 13): OpenAI is on pace for US$3.4 billion (RM16 billion) of annual revenue, chief executive officer Sam Altman told the company’s staff, according to a person familiar with the matter.

In an all-hands meeting on Wednesday, Altman said the vast majority of that revenue — about US$3.2 billion — comes from OpenAI’s products and services, according to the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal communications. Altman said OpenAI is also on track to generate about US$200 million by offering access to its artificial intelligence (AI) models through Microsoft Azure, the person said.

The Information was first to report the revenue figure. The outlet previously reported that annualised revenue was US$1.6 billion in late 2023.

OpenAI declined to comment.

OpenAI has emerged as a driving force in the development of AI, thanks to the viral success of ChatGPT, which helped kick off the frenzy around generative AI. Earlier this year, OpenAI completed a tender offer valuing the start-up at US$86 billion.

In recent months, OpenAI has been working to boost revenue from its AI products by selling services to enterprise customers. OpenAI has also begun training a more powerful AI model that could help it stay ahead of a growing number of well-funded rivals, who are vying for the same users and businesses.

This week, the start-up hired Sarah Friar, the former chief executive of neighbourhood social networking service Nextdoor Holdings Inc, to serve as its chief financial officer, a role that has gone unfilled at the fast-growing AI firm for two years. Friar will help OpenAI continue to invest in AI research, while growing its global business, the start-up said.

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