OpenAI, the company behind the popular chatbot ChatGPT, has surpassed $1.6 billion in annual revenue as of the end of 2023, according to a recent report by the American tech news platform, The Information. 

The report adds that as of mid-October 2023, the AI company's revenue stood at $1.3 billion. As such, there was about about 20% revenue growth in the last two months of 2023, with the company's flagship product, ChatGPT, expected to have played a pivotal role.

To note, it was within these two months that OpenAI faced challenges in leadership crisis, with CEO Sam Altman suddenly fired in November 2023. After multiple interim CEOs, Altman was eventually rehired a few days later, owing to most of the employees at OpenAI protesting to quit otherwise. 

Industry analysts attribute the company's ability to weather the storm to the inherent value and reliability of ChatGPT, which has likely fostered trust among its clientele, and is expected to do so in 2024 as well.