A technical accounting question is shaping up as a real flashpoint between the two most-watched AI IPO candidates. According to Reuters reporting, Anthropic and OpenAI use different revenue recognition approaches as both prepare confidential S-1 filings — and the difference is now part of investor discussions around the companies.
Anthropic recognizes gross revenue, counting the full value of transactions involving cloud partners because it considers itself the principal in those deals. OpenAI reports net revenue, after payments to Microsoft. The gap is not trivial: Bank of America estimated Anthropic's potential cloud payments to hyperscale partners at up to $6.4 billion in 2026 — money that would be netted out under OpenAI's methodology but counted as revenue under Anthropic's.
That makes Anthropic's headline numbers sensitive to the treatment. The company's annualized revenue has been reported at $47 billion by Sacra as of May 2026 and at over $30 billion by Reuters in April 2026, figures that depend materially on whether cloud reseller payments are counted gross or net. Khosla Ventures partner Ethan Choi framed the regulatory risk bluntly earlier this year: if both companies go public in the coming quarters, it is unclear how the SEC will allow them to use different accounting treatments for essentially the same type of revenue.
If the SEC requires harmonized treatment ahead of either listing, whichever company is using the more favorable methodology could see its headline revenue shrink by billions overnight — with direct consequences for how each IPO is priced relative to the other. With Anthropic targeting a Q4 2026 listing and OpenAI having just filed its own confidential S-1, the question is no longer abstract. It is a live pricing variable that underwriters, auditors, and regulators will need to resolve before investors can compare the two companies on a like-for-like basis.
Source: [TechWire Asia](https://techwireasia.com/2026/06/anthropic-claude-enterprise-ai-openai-google/)