CNBC’s 13th annual Disruptor 50 list of the most innovative private companies represents the new generation AI era.
Top 5 companies & valuations
- Anduril: $30.5 Billion
Key Technologies: Artificial Intelligence, autonomous vehicles, edge computing, explainable AI, generative AI, machine learning, robotics, software-defined security.
In April 2024, Anduril was one of two companies selected by the U.S. Air Force to build and test drone prototypes for the service’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft program, the first in a new generation of uncrewed fighter aircraft, and a contract in which it beat out traditional defense stalwarts Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman.
And as defense moves into the AI era, Anduril has also been working more closely with the tech sector to create the military of the future. In December, Anduril partnered with fellow Disruptor 50 company OpenAI on deployment of an advanced AI system for U.S. counter-unmanned aircraft systems to be used in “national security missions.”
In February, Anduril took over Microsoft’s multibillion-dollar Integrated Visual Augmentation System wearables program with the U.S. Army, a contract that was valued at nearly $22 billion. Then in May, Anduril teamed up with Meta to develop the VR and AR headsets for use by the U.S. Army as part of that program.
- Open AI: $300 Billion
OpenAI’s ChatGPT continues to grow fast, whether the metric is users, revenue, valuation or intelligence.
The generative AI company has come a long way from the breakout moment of ChatGPT’s debut in November 2022. At the time of the historic April fundraising announcement, Altman noted in an X post that the company had added one million users in the five days after the chatbot’s 2022 launch. Less than three years later, it is adding as many as one million users per hour.
The growth has been rewarded with increased investor bets on OpenAI’s revenue and profit potential, with recent reports indicating revenue may reach $13 billion this year, and reach over $100 billion by 2029. The company, which is still losing money according to 2024 financials, has put the revenue goal for this year closer to $11 billion, with CFO Sarah Friar stating in February that was within “the realm of possibility.”
That would still be close to three times last year’s revenue level. On Monday, the company announced that it had hit $10 billion in annual recurring revenue, a figure including sales from consumer products, ChatGPT business products and its application programming interface, or API.
- Databricks: $62 Billion
If data is the new oil, as it is often posited, Databricks is a source that companies are increasingly tapping into to make sense of the potential riches. There are software companies that are bigger, but few if any are growing as fast.
Over 12,000 organizations around the world, from Fortune 500 companies to government agencies and sports teams, rely on Databricks to help them funnel their data into evolving analytics, machine learning, and AI applications. Its software organizes and analyzes data in the cloud, revolutionizing an industry once dominated by siloed data and on-premises software firms like Oracle.
The cloud boom has led to impressive growth for the company, with over 500 customers working with Databricks at an annual revenue rate of over $1 million, as of last year, and $600 million in annual recurring revenue for its core SQL product in the year ended Oct. 31, 2024, representing a 150% year-over-year increase. Overall, the company had a $3 billion revenue run rate in the quarter that ended on Jan. 31, and was on pace to generate positive free cash flow for the first time.
- Anthropic: $61.5 Billion
If OpenAI’s explosive growth is best measured by consumer adoption, its rival Anthropic is the gold standard for enterprise use of large language models.
That is not to say OpenAI isn’t making gains in enterprise deals, and Anthropic is popular with millions of individuals for gen AI tasks. But its AI-as-a-service model, for coding tasks where generative AI is making huge leaps in ability, has led the Alphabet- and Amazon-backed startup to exponentially grow its business-to-business deals, and revenue.
Anthropic just hit $3 billion in annualized revenue, an increase in under one year from the $1 billion revenue pace it was on last December, with many customers paying as much as $100,000. The company told CNBC that annual revenue from code generation and software development rose by 10x in the last three months of 2024.
Companies that use Anthropic AI include top coding startups, including GitLab and Cursor, as well as big names across the market, from Intuit to Pfizer, Salesforce, Asana, DoorDash and fellow disruptor Canva.
Claude’s biggest moment yet came in May, when Anthropic launched two models, called Claude Opus 4 and Claude Sonnet 4, that can work for seven-consecutive hours without performance degradation, a milestone in AI productivity.
Last October, it launched its “agentic AI” rival to offerings from Meta and OpenAI’s Operator, called Computer Use, with Claude effectively being able to view a computer monitor, use buttons, type, search the internet and execute real-time tasks. Those types of capabilities are being adopted by companies including PayPal, Square, Plaid, Atlassian and Asana.
Anthropic has been pouring its R&D dollars into more complex tasks for business use cases, shifting away from some focus on B2B and consumer chatbot technology earlier in its history.
- Canva: $32 Billion
Canva has become a go-to tool for anyone needing to create a sleek presentation deck, flyer, or social media post. But the Australian design platform, which aims to “democratize design,” is now setting its sights far beyond individual creators.
Canva’s bet on simplicity has paid off. The platform now serves more than 220 million monthly users across over 190 countries. In 2024, its annual recurring revenue reached $3 billion — roughly double that of 2023 — as visual content became essential in modern workplaces.
It’s also made a major push into enterprise space. More than 95% of the Fortune 500, including HP and Snowflake, now use Canva. Canva Enterprise, made for teams of 100 or more people, includes security, reporting and brand management. Canva’s expansion into the enterprise pits it against heavyweight competitors like Adobe Express, CapCut, and fellow Disruptor 50 firms Figma and Notion.
To bolster its offerings, Canva made several high-profile acquisitions in 2024. It acquired Affinity, a suite of professional design tools, and Leonardo.AI, which built Australia’s first foundational AI model. These additions deepen Canva’s capabilities in advanced editing and generative AI. Canva’s platform now goes beyond design, including coding, photo editing, spreadsheet and AI chatbot features.
Still, Canva faces broader questions about the use of AI in design. The company has embraced generative AI, prompting some critics to raise concerns about content safety, user safety and data use for AI training, but the company says it has earned users trust over the years.
Industry breakdown of 2025 disruptor 50 list
- Fintech: 7
- Healthcare: 5
- Food & Defense: 4 each
- Transportation & Biotech: 3 each