Anthropic, OpenAI blow past Starbucks, McDonald's amid AI boom

AI revenue is accelerating so fast that it's starting to dwarf some of the world's most recognizable brands.

Why it matters: AI infrastructure spending forecasts in the trillions of dollars start to make at least a little more sense when investors see how they're paying off.

By the numbers: OpenAI and Anthropic, combined, are on track for an annual revenue rate of about $120 billion, "Key Context" Substack author Tae Kim noted on Monday, via data from AI investment research platform Funda.

• Anthropic makes up about 60% of that, given the company's lead with corporate customers (a lead that OpenAI is working to shrink).
• Both would land in the Fortune 500's top 100 companies by revenue at those levels.

Stunning stat: At around $71 billion in estimated annual revenue, Anthropic would best Starbucks ($37.2 billion) and McDonald's ($26.9 billion) combined.

• It would almost top both of them plus Taco Bell and KFC parent Yum Brands as well.
• Those international brands are 50 to 100 years old, with tens of thousands of locations and nearly universal recognition; Anthropic was just founded five years ago.

The bottom line: Who needs to eat out when Claude can just give you the recipe.