This revenue stream, revealed at the WWDC 2025, comes from three main areas, including consumer subscriptions, business clients using ChatGPT Enterprise, and developers tapping into its API. 

Again, the number does not include any licensing money from Microsoft or the company’s larger one-off enterprise deals, according to a company spokesperson.

In less than 36 months, OpenAI has grown from a disruptive newcomer to a tech king. Last year, it reported $5.5 billion in recurring revenue, but today, that number has doubled. 

Nonetheless, the company burned through approximately $5 billion in 2024 alone, so its growth wasn’t cheap. It paid for scale; recruiting top talent, buying computing power, and continuously improving the products that drive the company’s appeal.

While OpenAI hasn’t published its operating costs in full, we know the firm is aiming big. Its goals include a revenue target of $125 billion by 2029, an aggressive pursuit of authority across the market.

Earlier this year, OpenAI closed a $40 billion funding round, still the largest private technology deal ever recorded. At a valuation nearly 30 times its current revenue, expectations are sky-high. 

The company counts Microsoft, SoftBank, Coatue, Altimeter and Thrive among its key backers. These are investors used to backing winners and pushing for aggressive returns.

Since launching ChatGPT for consumers in late 2022, OpenAI has expanded fast. Business tools followed in 2023, and the user base hasn’t stopped growing. 

As of March 2025, more than 500 million people were using OpenAI’s tools weekly. The number of paying business customers has hit 3 million, climbing from 2 million in February.

Internally, the growth is celebrated, but the pressure is equally intense. OpenAI’s model requires constant investment, cash, computing power, and talent. Every expansion move must be backed with infrastructure that can keep pace with demand.

Even with the success, profitability is not certain and the company has not confirmed if it’s near breaking even. 

This is the most interesting visual change since iOS 7, but this time, Apple has integrated the new aesthetic across every platform, iPhone, iPad, Mac, Watch, Vision Pro, and Apple TV, creating a seamless, glass-like experience that adapts dynamically to user interaction and surroundings.

Apple describes Liquid Glass as translucent, reactive, and context-aware. For example, tap an alert, and it expands fluidly from your finger’s location. 

Scroll through menus, and the interface shimmers like real glass catching the light. The colours of the UI change in real time depending on background content and lighting conditions.

The lock screen and home screen shows this transformation, with effects that mirror physical properties of glass, not for spectacle, but for functionality. 

Apple has been under pressure lately with legal cases around App Store control, an AI race it’s losing, and growing developer dissatisfaction have left the company needing to regain trust.

This update is a strategic correction.

Goodbye Numbers, Hello Years

A second major change revealed at the WWDC25 event is in how Apple names its operating systems. iOS 26 is not the 26th version, but the 2026 edition, the year is now part of the name.

This applies across the board: iPadOS 26, watchOS 26, tvOS 26, visionOS 26, and macOS 26, the latter keeping its tradition with a location-based codename: Tahoe.

The Games App: Apple’s New Social Hub

Another revelation from WWDC25 was the launch of the Games app, Apple’s first serious attempt at centralising gaming experiences across its platforms. 

It acts as a hub, combining your game library, achievements, and friend activity. One new feature, “Play Together”, lets users challenge friends or join real-time sessions. “Challenges” bring competition into otherwise solo titles.

Apple says gaming on its devices is no longer a secondary experience.

iOS 26: Intelligence and Intuition

iOS 26 introduces smarter communication features, like Call Screening, which waits for a caller to speak before deciding whether to ring through. Hold Assist keeps you connected on long holds and notifies you once someone returns to the line. Every element, even emoji, is more expressive, letting users build custom icons through Genmoji combinations.

There’s also a live translation feature for calls across language barriers, and improvements in messages including shared backgrounds, group polls, and Apple Cash transactions in group chats.

MacOS Tahoe and iPadOS 26: 

MacOS Tahoe brings the same Liquid Glass visual overhaul, but more importantly, it makes macOS feel alive. Quick Keys, intelligent Shortcuts, and a clipboard history bring subtle but powerful quality-of-life improvements. The Phone app now runs natively on Mac, complete with call history and new call management tools.

On the iPad side, Apple continues to erase the line between tablet and desktop. A new windowing system lets users resize, flick, and tile apps. The persistent menu bar now mirrors desktop systems. Preview, previously mac-only, now arrives on iPad, complete with markup and export options.

If you’ve ever wanted your iPad to behave like a Mac, now it does.

Apple Watch, TV and Vision Pro: Smart Upgrades

WatchOS 26 introduces Workout Buddy, a personalised fitness coach powered by your own workout history. With smarter notifications that adapt volume based on ambient sound, and a new wrist-flick gesture to interact with alerts, Apple is bolstering the wearable experience without bloating it.

TVOS 26 follows the Liquid Glass theme and adds profile-based logins and a karaoke feature using your iPhone as a mic. You wake the device, pick your profile, and return to exactly where you left off, useful in a multi-user household.

VisionOS 26 deepens the mixed-reality playbook. Users can now personalise widgets, maintain window placements, and experience spatial photo views. New accessories include Logitech’s Muse stylus and compatibility with the PSVR2 Sense controller, both signs Apple is finally taking spatial interaction seriously.

Small Upgrades, Big Implications

AirPods are getting studio-quality recording and camera remote functionality. CarPlay now supports widgets, live activities, and tapback message replies. Apple Maps has learned your commute habits, while Apple Wallet now handles digital IDs for travel, excluding flights, and supports reward redemption and instalments.

These show Apple is addressing real-world use cases with intent.

With the Liquid Glass interface, new naming format, and overhaul of gaming, communication, and productivity tools revealed at the WWDC25, Apple is building a unified, intelligent system where the lines between devices blur.

An Apple executive said, “It’s the biggest shift in how our users experience their devices since we launched the first iPhone.”

At the centre of the anticipated launch is a complete overhaul of its operating systems’ appearance, a new naming convention, and cautious updates to its much-publicised Apple Intelligence tools.

The interface update, internally dubbed “Solarium,” takes cues from the visionOS used in Apple’s Vision Pro headset.

Early reports suggest users should expect a visually striking “Liquid Glass” look, transparent toolbars, glass-like UI elements, and a system-wide aesthetic meant to unify Apple’s product ecosystem. 

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported that this could be “the most dramatic overhaul” in Apple’s software history.

The change doesn’t end there as Apple appears set to abandon version numbers in favour of a year-based naming system. So, instead of iOS 19, we’ll now see iOS 26, aligning with macOS 26, iPadOS 26, watchOS 26, tvOS 26, and visionOS 26. It’s a change aimed at better cohesion across platforms.

Though Apple Intelligence dominated WWDC 2024, this year’s event will likely tone down the hype. After falling short on delivering an improved Siri and being condemned for over-promising, Apple is reportedly playing it safe. 

Still, some features, like automatic message translation and improved battery life management using AI, are on the cards. 

The AI features may also help the iPhone learn which apps to prioritise for power efficiency and show a charging time estimate on the lock screen.

iOS 26 will bring visible changes to everyday apps. Messages is tipped to get polls and custom chat backgrounds, while Notes may finally allow Markdown exports, a small but meaningful update for content creators. 

Meanwhile, a standalone gaming app could debut, streamlining Game Center, Apple Arcade, and store-bought games into one interface. Apple is also expected to expand gaming across iPadOS and macOS.

As for macOS, WWDC 2025 rumours point to the end of Intel-era Mac support. Devices like the 2018 Mac mini and 2020 Intel MacBook Air may be cut off. macOS 26, potentially called “Tahoe” will reportedly carry forward the visual overhaul with support continuing only on M1 and newer Macs.

One underreported but essential focus is accessibility. New features include braille-compatible app launching, Live Captions for Apple Watch, and a simplified Reader mode for users with dyslexia and visual impairments. 

There’s also a move to add “accessibility nutrition labels” in the App Store, helping users evaluate app usability before downloading.

The Apple Watch may gain a blood pressure feature and AI-powered notification summaries. However, watchOS support could leave out Series 6, with Series 7 and newer models remaining in play. 

Likewise, iPadOS 26 could drop support for the 7th-gen iPad but bring new multitasking tools and a mobile Preview app for PDF annotation.

Notably absent from this year’s expected announcements is Apple’s long-rumoured smart glasses. While sources say Tim Cook is invested in bringing spatial computing to wearables by 2026, no major reveal is anticipated today. 

However, Apple may quietly begin courting developers for future app support, as it did with the Vision Pro.

And though Apple won’t address it on stage, the impact of US tariffs can’t be ignore. With the Trump administration threatening 25% tariffs on non-US-made Apple products, CEO Tim Cook recently noted a projected $900 million hit this quarter. 

If there’s any mention of Apple’s promised $500 billion domestic investment, it’ll be more political than product-oriented.

Finally, the Apple Design Awards have already named winners across six categories, highlighting the best in innovation, accessibility, and visual design. It’s a quiet nod to the developer community just before the big announcements roll in.

WWDC 2025 officially begins today at 6 p.m. WAT, and developer betas are expected to be released immediately after the keynote. Public betas should follow in July, with full software rollouts likely timed with the iPhone 17 launch this September.

Apple has a lot to prove this year with functionality, reliability, and restraint. 

This comes at a time when the tech giant has been warned to justify its hold on the app distribution ecosystem, especially after recent antitrust cases and a changing regulatory environment.

The numbers were released ahead of Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC 2025), likely to strengthen the company’s argument that its tight control over app distribution is beyond business, it’s also about protecting users and developers from sophisticated fraud schemes.

In 2024 alone, Apple blocked nearly two million app submissions it identified as high-risk. That’s not just about fake games or copycat tools. We’re talking about apps that aimed to steal personal data, trick users into shady transactions, or impersonate legitimate software. 

Many of these attempted to bypass Apple’s screening system through hidden features or manipulated review content.

Apple deactivated nearly 129 million customer accounts and rejected over 711 million attempts to create new ones in 2024. It also terminated 146,000 developer accounts over fraud cases and blocked another 139,000 from ever registering.

Apple says the threats don’t end on its own store. It stopped 4.6 million attempts to sideload apps from unauthorised sources, apps often loaded with malware or pirated content. 

According to the company, over 10,000 such apps were already circulating on pirate storefronts, including versions of legitimate apps that had been tampered with to serve ads, run scams, or worse.

Apple’s position on this is blunt. “Pirated apps may appear harmless but can include dangerous modifications, malware, or tools to siphon data or money,” it warned. That’s a risk for any developer considering a move away from Apple’s ecosystem.

The company’s App Review process has also become more assertive. Last year alone, it reviewed over 7.7 million app submissions and rejected 1.9 million for failing to meet safety, privacy, or reliability standards. Around 400,000 apps were tossed out solely due to privacy violations. 

Another 320,000 were found to be deceptive, spammy, or impersonating other apps. And 43,000 submissions were caught trying to hide extra functionality, features turned on only after passing review.

Fraudsters are targeting users in more personal ways too. In 2024, Apple flagged 4.7 million stolen credit cards and blocked 1.6 million accounts from making further purchases. It also removed 143 million fake reviews and ratings, giving honest developers a chance to compete fairly.

With the rise of alternative app stores in Europe under the Digital Markets Act, Apple is making a pointed case. The company is saying go it alone if you want, but understand what that means. “Without strong safeguards, developers risk seeing their own apps copied, resold, or modified on pirate platforms,” Apple says.

The company’s message is as much a warning as it is a defence of its 15–30% commission rates on in-app purchases. It claims this fee isn’t just about money, it also covers hosting, global distribution, fraud protection, subscription tools, and refunds.

For developers, especially small ones, that package might still outweigh the cost of handling fraud, customer support, and infrastructure alone.

Developers and tech professionals are looking beyond routine updates, the company is preparing to announce changes across its software platforms, with higher focus on artificial intelligence.

The event, which combines in-person attendance at Apple Park with online programming, is headlined by the theme “On the horizon.”

Apple is also planning a deep redesign of its software, particularly for iOS 19, macOS 16, iPadOS 19, visionOS 3, and watchOS 12.

From what we’ve gathered, users should expect overhauled icons, refined menus, redesigned apps, and simplified navigation, all aligned with the aesthetic of visionOS.

Apple isn’t just putting a new coat of paint on its platforms. The bigger innovation lies in the integration of “Apple Intelligence” features across its ecosystem. 

These include new tools for smarter battery performance and a virtual assistant for health tracking, obvious signs Apple is pushing further into personalised and predictive user experiences.

The WWDC 2025 conference opens on 9 June at 10 a.m. PDT with the traditional keynote, streamed globally on Apple’s platforms, including the Apple TV app and YouTube. Later that day at 1 p.m. PDT, the “Platforms State of the Union” will offer a technical breakdown of the new tools, features, and APIs that developers will work with in the months ahead.

Developers can expect over 100 sessions during the week, covering updates across Swift, machine learning, graphics, and system frameworks.

For the first time, Apple is adding online group sessions to supplement one-on-one appointments with engineers and designers. This is different from past years, stressing the company’s move to make developer engagement more collaborative and flexible.

A highlight of the conference is the Swift Student Challenge, where Apple is spotlighting 50 standout winners with a three-day immersive experience at Apple Park. The goal is to nurture the next generation of coders and creators from the ground up.

Everything will be accessible online via the WWDC25 website, the Apple Developer app, and official Apple channels.

Apple said in its announcement: “WWDC25 is going to be our biggest and most forward-looking yet.” Given the changes coming, that doesn’t appear to be an exaggeration.