“OpenAI and Anthropic have become more expensive to run, and OpenAI’s non-GAAP operating margin increased from negative 122% to negative 183% in Q2 2026.”
Our reading, the sentence that was checked:
OpenAI's non-GAAP operating margin worsened from -122% to -183% in Q2 2026, and both OpenAI and Anthropic have become more expensive to run.
Assessment: Unresolved Evidence as of
Where and when Ed Zitron wrote it
Where's Your Ed At, The AI Hater's Manifesto, paragraph 175.
- Said
- Source observed
- live page, full text, public
- Evidence as of
- the cutoff for this assessment
- Assessment recorded
- assessment wyea-the-ai-haters-manifesto-a4a3ce-a2
We recorded 50 claims from this post. See every claim from this post.
The wording above is the version this site observed on 2026-10-28. The source may have been edited after 2026-08-25. This page does not claim the wording was captured then.
What the claim commits to
- Kind
- Observation
- Deadline, as the speaker wrote it
- None stated. This site does not add one.
- Deadline state when assessed
- No horizon
- Deadline state on 2026-10-29
- No horizon (the release’s reference date)
From the speaker
- OpenAI and Anthropic have become more expensive to run
- OpenAI’s non-GAAP operating margin
- from negative 122% to negative 183%
- in Q2 2026
Our interpretation
- Read 'increased' as an increase in the magnitude of the negative margin, meaning deterioration.
- Use calendar Q2 2026 as the reported quarter and Q1 2026 as the immediately preceding comparison quarter.
- Read 'more expensive to run' as rising total operating costs, not rising costs per customer or token.
- For the ongoing cost claim, use Q2 2026, the latest completed quarter before the post, compared with Q1. The speaker does not explicitly specify this cost comparison.
- The single metric_scope describes the precisely specified OpenAI margin. The separate cost claims concern two companies and do not specify a common accounting basis; evidence for them cannot substitute for the margin comparison.
Counts as supported if: Comparable non-GAAP records show OpenAI's margin at approximately -122% in Q1 and -183% in Q2 2026, and comparable expense records establish rising operating costs for both labs.
Counts as contradicted if: Comparable records establish a materially different OpenAI non-GAAP margin or demonstrate that either lab's operating costs did not rise under the stated comparison.
Retrospective: these criteria were written after the outcome was public.
Current assessment
Was it true for the period described?
Outcome: Unresolved
The record was checked, and the evidence available by the cutoff does not settle it.
Scored on a plain reading. The speaker named no measure for this claim, so it was judged on the reading an informed reader would take, stated below under our interpretation. Both reviews had to find that reading fair.
- Evidence as of
- Deadline state when assessed
- No horizon
- Assessment recorded
- Policy version
- 2026-10-28.7
Rationale
The reported revenue and operating results indicate that total operating costs rose for both companies from Q1 to Q2 2026 [e5][e6]. However, the OpenAI report identifies GAAP results and does not establish comparable non-GAAP margins of -122% and -183% for those quarters [e5]. Anthropic's rising computing expenses and improved operating results do not resolve OpenAI's margin comparison [e6]. The evidence therefore supports the direction of the cost claim but leaves the specified non-GAAP comparison unresolved [e5][e6].
Limitations
- The packet lacks comparable OpenAI non-GAAP results and reconciliations showing the exclusions used in both quarters [e5].
- The total-cost trend is inferred from rounded reported revenue and operating results, rather than verified through comparable expense statements [e5][e6].
- Anthropic's computing expenses alone cover only part of its operating costs [e6].
Evidence (2 items)
Context only: XenoSpectrum,
OpenAI's operating loss reached $12.3 billion.
Why it matters here: This reports an operating-loss amount and later identifies the first-half actuals as GAAP-based. It does not establish the requested Q2 non-GAAP margin; combining it with an adjusted Q1 margin would mix bases.
- Publisher
- XenoSpectrum
- Kind of source
- Secondary summary
- Measures
- OpenAI, Operating loss, USD billions, gaap, 2026-04-01 to 2026-06-30
- Describes events of
- Public from
Context only: Yahoo Finance,
rose
Why it matters here: The report, checked against Anthropic's filing, documents higher quarterly compute costs alongside improving profitability. It concerns a different company and metric from OpenAI's specified margin, and compute expenses alone are narrower than total operating costs.
- Publisher
- Yahoo Finance
- Kind of source
- News report, unaudited
- Measures
- Anthropic, Compute and infrastructure expenses, Q1-to-Q2 comparison, USD billions, company reported, 2026-01-01 to 2026-06-30
- Describes events of
- Public from
What would settle it
OpenAI's realized Q1 and Q2 2026 revenue and non-GAAP operating income, reconciled using identical exclusions, plus comparable total operating-expense records for both companies for those quarters.
Where it was said (1)
Said once in the sources this register covers.
: Where's Your Ed At, The AI Hater's Manifesto
OpenAI and Anthropic have become more expensive to run, and OpenAI’s non-GAAP operating margin increased from negative 122% to negative 183% in Q2 2026.
- Where
- paragraph 175
- Published
- 2026-08-25
- Source observed
- , live page
- Access
- full text, public
History
Assessment versions
- Assessment wyea-the-ai-haters-manifesto-a4a3ce-a2: Current. Outcome: Unresolved. Evidence as of 2026-10-28. Public date not recorded.
Recorded events
Assessment publishedBy this site
First assessment published after both reviews and the final-text check passed.
HeldBy this site
The final-text check failed: citations_correct.
About assessment wyea-the-ai-haters-manifesto-a4a3ce-a1, which was not published.