OpenAI and Anthropic Revenues Surpass Chinese AI Models Tenfold

A recent Rhodium research report reveals that American AI firms OpenAI and Anthropic generate revenues roughly ten times higher than the combined earnings of all major Chinese AI model providers.

Financial gap details

Estimates show Chinese companies capture only about 10 % of the recurring annual revenue that OpenAI and Anthropic earn together, despite rapid domestic adoption of AI technologies. DeepSeek posted the lowest Chinese revenue at $500 million, followed by MiniMax at $800 million and Moonshot at $1 billion. Z.ai reported $1.8 billion in recurring revenue, projected to reach $3 billion by year‑end.

OpenAI alone generated approximately $40 billion in recurring annual revenue, while Anthropic reached $65 billion, according to the same study.

Context and outlook

The report highlights a stark mismatch between valuations and actual earnings for Chinese startups; Moonshot’s valuation multiple is about 50 times revenue, and DeepSeek’s reaches 163 times. Companies like Moonshot and DeepSeek are eyeing IPOs in Hong Kong, Anthropic plans a potential U.S. listing, and OpenAI has postponed its public offering to next year.

The disparity stems from Chinese models being largely open‑source, allowing users to run them locally without extra fees, whereas U.S. models rely on paid licenses and higher per‑use costs.