We don’t know a lot about how much individual partners make on Coursera, except for one whose earnings must be disclosed in Coursera’s 10-K annual filings due to a conflict of interest. That partner is about to reach $100M in sales on the platform.

DeepLearning.AI — the company of Coursera’s co-founder and Board Member Andrew Ng — is on track to generate $100 million in cumulative sales on the platform by the end of 2025.

This valuable insight comes from Coursera’s required SEC disclosures, where they must report related-party transactions in their annual 10-K filings.

According to the numbers presented in Coursera’s financial reports, DeepLearning.AI has earned $40 million in revenue by the end of 2024. Based on the 50-50 revenue-sharing agreement between Coursera and DeepLearning.AI, this translates to $80 million in total sales.

With $8.6 million in revenue generated in 2024 alone, DeepLearning.AI is set to cross the $100 million cumulative sales milestone sometime in 2025.

From Stanford ML to AI Empire

Back in August 2011, Stanford professor Andrew Ng uploaded an intro video on YouTube for his free online Machine Learning course. This course would later lead him and Daphne Koller to launch Coursera a few months later.

Six years later, Andrew launched his Deep Learning Specialization, but this time under his own company, DeepLearning.AI, rather than Stanford. At that point, Andrew had already stepped away from daily operations at Coursera, though he remained as co-chairman of the board.

What started as a five-course specialization has expanded to over 150 courses and specializations focused on AI and machine learning, making DeepLearning.AI one of the most prolific content creators on the platform.

The Financial Picture

I’ve been tracking DeepLearning.AI’s earnings through Coursera’s annual reports for years now. Here’s what I’ve extracted from their related-party transaction disclosures:

Interestingly, DeepLearning.AI courses are notably absent from Coursera Plus, the platform’s catalog subscription. This exclusion likely results in more favorable economics for DeepLearning.AI compared to other partners.

Is DeepLearning.AI Among Coursera’s Top Five Partners?

Coursera’s annual reports state that approximately 28% of their total revenue comes from just five partners. With Coursera’s 2024 revenue reaching $695 million, this means these top five partners collectively generated around $194 million.

Google, with its popular Professional Certificate programs, is likely Coursera’s biggest industry partner. In a previous Class Central analysis, we estimated that Google generates approximately $100 million annually through Coursera.

Given DeepLearning.AI’s consistent and growing revenue stream, it’s possible they’ve secured a spot among Coursera’s top revenue-generating partners.

The Shift to Industry Content

DeepLearning.AI’s success highlights Coursera’s evolving business model. In recent years, Coursera has increasingly emphasized industry-led content, particularly professional certificates, over traditional university courses.

Industry partners are a key reason why Coursera’s consumer revenues crossed $100M in the third quarter of 2024.