OpenAI Has Spent Too Much and Is Not Earning as Expected: Financial Concerns Arise
According to reports from the Wall Street Journal, OpenAI is recording operational results below internal expectations, raising concerns about the financial sustainability of the strategy adopted in recent years. According to sources close to the company, the slowdown in user and revenue growth has triggered an increasingly heated internal debate regarding investment management, particularly those related to infrastructure.
The main issue revolves around the ability to sustain multi-year commitments for computing, deemed crucial for the development of AI models. CFO Sarah Friar has reportedly expressed concerns about the possibility of honoring future contracts if revenue growth does not accelerate. Alongside this, the board of directors has intensified monitoring of agreements related to data centers, questioning the expansive path promoted by CEO Sam Altman.
In recent years, Altman has advocated for an aggressive strategy based on the preemptive acquisition of computing capacity, considered the main bottleneck for AI development. This approach has led OpenAI to engage in contracts estimated at around $600 billion, effectively tying a significant part of tech sector growth to its roadmap.
However, the context has changed. ChatGPT experienced a slowdown in growth towards the end of last year, missing the internal target of one billion active weekly users. Revenues also fell short of set targets, partly due to increasing competitive pressure from Gemini, which has quickly gained market share. Additionally, the churn rate among subscribers and challenges in the enterprise and coding segments—where Anthropic has strengthened its position—have contributed to a more complex landscape.
Throughout 2025, OpenAI reportedly missed several monthly revenue targets, highlighting a growth dynamic that is less linear than initially projected. Nevertheless, the company recently raised $122 billion in a record round for Silicon Valley, temporarily bolstering its financial position. However, projections indicate that this capital could be absorbed in about three years, in light of current infrastructure commitments.
To contain costs, the company has begun to streamline some operations, scaling back projects like Sora, while focusing on products with greater traction, such as Codex in the software development segment. On the technological front, the recent launch of GPT-5.5 has allowed OpenAI to maintain a prominent position in industry benchmarks.
Meanwhile, the entire AI sector is facing a phase of tension regarding computing capacity. Several players, including Anthropic, have reported resource shortages, resulting in price increases, service interruptions, and usage limitations that have impacted professional users the most.
In a communication to investors, OpenAI claimed a competitive advantage in the availability of computing capacity over its competitors, indirectly responding to criticisms from Anthropic's CEO, Dario Amodei, who had warned against excessive risk in infrastructure investments.
Strategically, there also appear to be divergences regarding the timing of a potential public listing. Friar has emphasized the need to strengthen internal controls before addressing the transparency requirements of public markets, while Altman is pushing for a faster timeline.
Complicating matters further are additional issues: the temporary absence of second-in-command Fidji Simo due to health reasons and the initiation of legal proceedings initiated by Elon Musk, aimed at challenging the for-profit structure of the company and the current leadership.