OpenAI President and co-founder Greg Brockman acknowledged during the WSJ Tech Live event that the first half of 2026 was “pretty rough” for the company, marked by fierce competition where rival Anthropic initially captured momentum among business users. OpenAI experienced a sharp operational and financial inflection in the third quarter, fueled by a 70% quarter-over-quarter growth in annualized revenue and a doubling of its enterprise segment. Business customers surpassed consumer subscriptions to account for the majority of OpenAI’s revenue a dramatic pivot from prior years when the company was viewed strictly as a consumer-facing chatbot provider. Accelerated adoption of advanced software development and agentic coding tools underscored by OpenAI’s recent infrastructure maneuvers like the Pierre Computer acquisition helped crack open major corporate accounts. Buoyed by the sudden revenue acceleration and surging corporate demand, Brockman indicated that OpenAI believes it will be operationally ready for an initial public offering in 2027.

Full interview : Speaking at WSJ Tech, OpenAI’s president details how a sluggish start and intense competition from Anthropic gave way to a 70% Q3 revenue jump as enterprise sales outpaced consumer adoption.