OpenAI has fallen short of internal targets for both revenue and user growth in recent months, raising concerns about its ability to sustain aggressive spending on computing infrastructure as it moves toward a potential public listing, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.
The company, best known for developing ChatGPT, is said to have missed multiple monthly revenue targets earlier this year, with increased competition in key segments such as coding and enterprise solutions weighing on performance. Rival Anthropic has reportedly gained ground in these areas, intensifying pressure on OpenAI’s growth trajectory.
Internally, concerns have surfaced around the company’s cost structure, particularly its heavy investment in data centers and computing capacity. Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar is reported to have flagged risks that future computing commitments may not be sustainable if revenue growth does not accelerate.
At the same time, user growth appears to have moderated. ChatGPT’s expansion slowed toward the end of last year, with the company falling short of an internal goal to reach one billion weekly active users. The report also noted challenges around subscriber retention, suggesting increased churn in its paid user base.
Responding to the report, Sam Altman pushed back on concerns, stating, “This is ridiculous. We are totally aligned on buying as much compute as we can and working hard on it together every day,” in a joint response with Friar.
The developments come at a critical time for OpenAI, as it continues to scale operations while balancing rising infrastructure costs with the need for sustainable revenue growth. The company’s long-term strategy hinges on maintaining leadership in the rapidly evolving artificial intelligence space, even as competition intensifies and monetization challenges persist.
With IPO ambitions on the horizon, the ability to demonstrate consistent growth in both users and revenue will be closely watched by investors, particularly given the AI industry’s capital-intensive nature.
