[DigitalToday reporter Chi-gyu Hwang (황치규)] In the AI startup ecosystem, the concentration of revenue in Anthropic and OpenAI, the so-called “big two,” is intensifying.

A recent report by The Information shows the revenue gap between the big two and other AI startups is widening. Their combined share has surged to 89 percent. The Information reported this based on data tallying annualised revenue for 34 leading AI startups, including Anthropic and OpenAI.

The data covered AI model companies and startups building applications based on AI models. It did not include AI cloud startups that rent Nvidia chips, or listed companies such as Google and Microsoft.

The survey found annualised revenue for the 34 startups reached about $80 billion. That is up 112 percent from six months earlier. Within that, Anthropic and OpenAI’s share rose to about 89 percent, up 4.5 percentage points from six months earlier.

Revenue at Anthropic and OpenAI may be overstated. The Information said Anthropic shares part of its revenue with cloud partners such as Amazon and Google, and OpenAI must share 20 percent of its revenue with Microsoft through 2030 under a contract.

Even so, The Information said the rising share of Anthropic and OpenAI in revenue among major AI startups could bolster some investors’ argument that most software value in the AI era will come from top-tier AI model companies rather than pure AI app developers.

Sequoia Capital, one of Silicon Valley’s prominent venture capital firms, is among those that view it that way.

That angle is rooted in the fact that most AI applications use Anthropic and OpenAI models, at least in part. It reflects a perception that as Anthropic and OpenAI expand beyond foundation models into products tailored to specific industries or white-collar work, they could take business away from AI app startups.

Even among AI startups excluding Anthropic and OpenAI, more companies are posting what are seen as impressive results.

Since last December, among the remaining 32 startups other than Anthropic and OpenAI, AI search company Perplexity, voice AI company ElevenLabs and coding app Cognition have surpassed $500 million in annualised revenue, joining the ranks of coding AI app Cursor.

An April report by the Financial Times said Perplexity’s annual recurring revenue exceeded $450 million as of March. That was a 50 percent jump in a month, and its ARR now appears to have exceeded $500 million. The analysis said new agent tools and a shift to usage-based billing drove the growth.

Voice AI startup ElevenLabs is also continuing to show rapid revenue growth. Its ARR rose from about $350 million at the end of last year to more than $500 million in early May. ElevenLabs also raised $500 million at an $11 billion valuation in February, led by Sequoia Capital.

Cognition, which provides the AI coding tool Devin, had ARR of about $73 million as of June last year. It is now growing fast enough to join the $500 million club. Cognition is also said to be pursuing a new funding round at a $25 billion valuation.