OpenAI Annual Recurring Revenue Nears $70 Billion, Oracle Shares Briefly Jump More Than 8%; E Fund's Zhang Kun Steps Down From a Fund

OpenAI Annual Recurring Revenue Nears $70 Billion, Oracle Shares Briefly Jump More Than 8%; E Fund's Zhang Kun Steps Down From One Fund

According to Axios, citing people familiar with the matter, OpenAI's annual recurring revenue (ARR) is nearing $70 billion; since the start of the third quarter, its annualized revenue run rate has grown by more than 70%; enterprise sales have more than doubled since July.^[1][4]

The report also said that OpenAI's newly added consumer revenue in the third quarter has exceeded all newly added consumer revenue in full-year 2025.^[1] After the news was announced, Oracle shares briefly rose 8.2%, while Microsoft shares also reversed from declines to gains.^[1] It should be noted that the $70 billion figure is annual recurring revenue or an annualized revenue run rate calculated based on current operating performance, and does not mean that OpenAI has already achieved $70 billion in actual revenue this year; as a private company, OpenAI has also not publicly disclosed complete, audited financial statements.^[1]

Oracle has become an important partner for OpenAI in expanding computing infrastructure in recent years. OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank had previously continued to expand the Stargate project. In September 2025, the three companies announced five new U.S. AI data center sites; together with previous projects, the related sites correspond to more than $400 billion in investment over the next three years, and they plan to ultimately fulfill a $500 billion, 10-gigawatt infrastructure construction commitment.^[1]

However, as OpenAI's revenue grows, its demand for computing resources and infrastructure is also expanding rapidly. Earlier, the Financial Times reported that OpenAI is expected to burn nearly $278 billion in cash from 2026 to 2030. Reuters previously reported that Oracle may delay or even exit a data center project that provides computing power to OpenAI; the project involves about $20 billion in financing.^[1]

On financing and IPO, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said the company currently has no specific IPO plan, and that going public is not a priority before clarifying the safety boundaries of next-generation artificial intelligence. Media reported the same day that OpenAI is seeking to complete more than $30 billion in financing at a $1.4 trillion valuation, using a bridge round instead of an IPO to supplement funding.^[3][4] According to Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter, the financing discussions are still at an early stage and the final plan may change; if the financing is successfully completed, OpenAI's valuation will surpass Anthropic's latest private-market valuation and it will regain its industry-leading position.^[4]

OpenAI's previous financing round was completed in March this year, with a valuation (including raised funds) of $852 billion and a financing amount of $12.2 billion; the current target valuation of $1.4 trillion excludes raised funds, a sharp jump from the previous round.^[4] On the product side, OpenAI launched a new “Dots” always-on AI agent, directly targeting Meta's Muse; it also adjusted its subscription plans, adding a $500-per-month premium package, while some usage limits of the existing $200 package were adjusted and tightened.^[4] Anthropic has submitted a confidential listing application and is expected to complete a public listing as soon as this fall; OpenAI has also submitted confidential listing documents.^[4]

On safety, Altman said the delayed release of GPT-6.1 Astra was because the model did not meet some of the company's testing standards for evaluating safety and alignment, rather than because of a specific serious incident; he attributed the decision to “out of an abundance of caution.”^[3] This week OpenAI announced that it would not release GPT-6.1 Astra because the system failed to pass internal safety standards; Altman supports a proposal by Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei—to slow the pace of developing the most frontier AI models and bring in independent evaluation institutions to help ensure technical safety.^[4]

On domestic public funds, E Fund issued an announcement early on September 30 that Zhang Kun has stepped down as fund manager of the E Fund Quality Enterprises Three-Year Holding Period Mixed Securities Investment Fund, and the fund will be solely managed by Zhang Qi; previously, on June 27, the fund announced the addition of Zhang Qi as a co-manager.^[2] The announcement noted that Zhang Kun will continue to serve as senior managing director of E Fund Management Co., Ltd. and a member of its Equity Investment Decision Committee, and his other funds remain unchanged.^[2]

Public information shows that Zhang Qi holds a doctorate in engineering, joined E Fund in July 2017, previously served as an investment manager and industry researcher, and began serving as a fund manager in April 2022; his investments focus on technological change and social transformation, and he prefers to observe industries from an overall perspective, selecting growth companies in a top-down manner.^[2] Information from within the industry says that Zhang Qi is an equity investment backbone cultivated internally by E Fund, with a style biased toward fundamental research-driven investing.^[2] Currently, the three funds Zhang Kun participates in managing are E Fund Blue Chip Selected Mixed, E Fund Asia Selected Stock, and E Fund Quality Selected Mixed (QDII).^[2]