According to TechCrunch, Anthropic is projecting absolutely massive growth with expectations of hitting $70 billion in revenue and $17 billion in cash flow by 2028. The company reportedly thinks it can reach $9 billion in annual recurring revenue by the end of 2025 and then jump to $20-26 billion ARR in 2026. Right now, Anthropic expects $3.8 billion in API revenue this year – which would double OpenAI’s projected API sales. The company’s Claude Code product is already approaching $1 billion in annualized revenue, up from $400 million just months ago. These projections come as Anthropic expands partnerships with Microsoft, Salesforce, Deloitte, and Cognizant while launching more cost-effective models like Claude Sonnet 4.5.
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<h2 id="the-business-model-shift”>The Business Model Shift
Here’s what’s really interesting: Anthropic is going all-in on B2B while OpenAI is trying to do both consumer and enterprise. Anthropic’s strategy looks like it’s working – at least on paper. They’re embedding their models into Microsoft 365 apps, expanding with Salesforce for regulated industries, and rolling out Claude to hundreds of thousands of employees at consulting giants. Basically, they’re betting that deep enterprise integration beats having 800 million weekly users. And their gross margin projections tell the story – from negative 94% last year to 50% this year and 77% by 2028. That’s a stunning turnaround if they can pull it off.
The OpenAI Contrast
Now look at OpenAI’s path. They’re projecting $100 billion in revenue by 2027 but expecting absolutely massive losses – $14 billion cash burn in 2026 alone, mounting to $115 billion through 2029. That’s wild. OpenAI is spending like crazy on infrastructure while Anthropic is projecting positive cash flow by 2028. Two completely different philosophies playing out in real time. OpenAI has the user base but apparently can’t monetize it efficiently, while Anthropic seems to be building a sustainable enterprise business. The question is: which approach actually wins in the long run?
The Funding Reality
Let’s talk about the money behind this. Anthropic just raised $13 billion at a $170 billion valuation in September, and they’re already eyeing another round at $300-400 billion. That’s insane growth for a company that was negative 94% on gross margins last year. But here’s the thing – they’re projecting positive cash flow, which means they might not need endless funding rounds forever. They’ve got some liabilities though – a $2.5 billion credit facility and a $1.5 billion legal settlement from that copyright lawsuit. So the path isn’t completely clear, but if they hit these numbers, they’ll be one of the most valuable tech companies ever.
Can They Actually Do This?
So here’s the billion-dollar question: are these projections realistic? Going from $3.8 billion this year to $70 billion in 2028 means nearly 20x growth in three years. That’s unprecedented outside of maybe the early internet days. But the enterprise AI market is exploding, and Anthropic’s partnerships with Salesforce and Deloitte give them massive distribution. Their cost-effective models like Claude Haiku 4.5 make sense for businesses trying to deploy AI at scale. The projections feel aggressive, but the strategy seems sound. We’ll find out soon enough whether this is visionary or delusional.
