Anthropic’s $70B revenue bet shows AI’s enterprise gold rush

Anthropic's $70B revenue bet shows AI's enterprise gold rush - Professional coverage

According to TechCrunch, The Information reports that Anthropic expects to generate as much as $70 billion in revenue and $17 billion in cash flow by 2028. The company is reportedly on track to hit $9 billion in annual recurring revenue by end of 2025 and $20-26 billion ARR for 2026. This year alone, Anthropic projects $3.8 billion from API sales, doubling what OpenAI expects from similar services. The growth is fueled by major enterprise partnerships with Microsoft, Salesforce, Deloitte, and Cognizant, plus new cost-effective models like Claude Sonnet 4.5. Anthropic’s gross profit margin is expected to reach 50% this year and 77% in 2028, up from negative 94% last year. The company last raised at a $170 billion valuation and might target $300-400 billion in its next funding round.

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<h2 id="enterprise-ai-battle”>The enterprise AI arms race is here

Here’s the thing: Anthropic isn’t just chasing revenue numbers—they’re executing a laser-focused enterprise strategy that’s already paying off. While OpenAI has 800 million weekly users on the consumer side, Anthropic is going straight for the corporate wallets. And honestly? It’s working. Their API sales are already projected to double OpenAI’s this year, which tells you something about where the real money in AI might be.

Look at these partnerships: Microsoft 365 integration, Salesforce expansion, rolling out Claude to hundreds of thousands of employees at Deloitte and Cognizant. That’s not just growth—that’s enterprise domination in the making. When you embed your AI into the daily workflows of consulting giants and enterprise software, you’re not just selling a product—you’re becoming infrastructure.

The road to profitability

What really stands out here is the profitability story. Going from negative 94% gross margin to 50% this year and 77% by 2028? That’s not just impressive—it’s borderline unbelievable. But if they can pull it off, it changes the entire narrative around AI companies burning cash forever.

And the cash flow projection of $17 billion by 2028? That’s the number that should make investors sit up straight. Cash flow means sustainability, and in an industry where everyone’s worried about the next funding round, positive cash flow could make Anthropic the adult in the room.

Meanwhile, at OpenAI…

Now let’s talk about the elephant in the room. OpenAI expects $13 billion revenue this year and $100 billion by 2027, which sounds massive until you see their cash burn projections. They’re expecting $14 billion in losses just in 2026, mounting to $115 billion through 2029. That’s… concerning.

So we’ve got two completely different approaches here. Anthropic is the disciplined enterprise play focusing on profitability, while OpenAI is going for massive scale with consumer adoption and apparently accepting huge losses along the way. Which strategy wins? Honestly, I’m not sure, but having positive cash flow while your main rival burns through billions certainly gives you more options.

What this means for everyone else

For enterprises, this is great news—competition means better products and potentially better pricing. Anthropic’s new cost-effective models like Claude Sonnet 4.5 show they’re serious about making AI accessible for businesses at scale.

For developers? More enterprise adoption means more opportunities to build on these platforms. When companies like Salesforce and Deloitte commit to your technology, that creates an entire ecosystem.

But here’s my question: Can any AI company actually hit these astronomical numbers? $70 billion in revenue by 2028 would make Anthropic one of the largest tech companies in the world. Either we’re witnessing the birth of the next tech giants, or we’re in the middle of the biggest hype cycle since the dot-com era. Probably a bit of both.

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