Yesterday in AI: 21 May 2026 — Anthropic's First Profit, Trump Kills AI Order

Anthropic forecasts its first-ever quarterly operating profit at $10.9B Q2 revenue; Trump scraps a frontier-model oversight order hours before signing; Nvidia posts a record $81.6B quarter.

By OMC Editorial on 2026-05-22

TL;DR — Anthropic told investors it expects its first-ever operating profit of $559M in Q2 on $10.9B revenue, a 130% jump from Q1; Trump cancelled a planned executive order that would have given the NSA 90 days with every frontier model before launch, citing concern it would slow America's AI lead over China; Nvidia reported the most profitable quarter in tech history at $81.6B revenue and guided to $91B next quarter. --- 1️⃣ Anthropic Expects Its First-Ever Profit — $559M Operating Income on $10.9B Revenue - What: Anthropic shared internal projections with investors showing Q2 2026 revenue of $10.9B up 130% from Q1's $4.8B and a first-ever operating profit of $559M. - Why it matters: Anthropic has burned billions since 2021; a profitable quarter validates the enterprise-Claude bet and sets up the company's next funding round on dramatically stronger terms. - Key number: 130% — quarter-over-quarter revenue growth rate, Q1 to Q2 2026. The figures were first reported by the Wall Street Journal on May 20 and confirmed across multiple outlets by May 21. Anthropic cautioned that it may not sustain profitability for the full year as planned infrastructure spending accelerates, but the Q2 projection signals that enterprise adoption — particularly Claude Code and the cybersecurity pipeline from Project Glasswing partners — is converting to cash at an unprecedented pace. Q1 came in at $4.8B, up from roughly $1.6B annualized in mid-2025, reflecting large enterprise deals with AWS, Apple, and Microsoft alongside rapid Claude Code uptake. The swing to $559M operating income represents a complete reversal of a loss-making streak that began at the company's founding in 2021. 📎 Dataconomyhttps://dataconomy.com/2026/05/21/anthropic-profit-revenue-10-9-billion/ · CryptoBriefinghttps://cryptobriefing.com/anthropic-first-profit-revenue-jump/ · Winbuzzerhttps://winbuzzer.com/2026/05/21/anthropic-targets-first-profit-as-revenue-hits-109b-xcxwbn/ · Investing.comhttps://www.invest