OpenAI Faces Growth Pressure as Revenue Targets and User Expansion Lag

Mintesinot Niggusie

OpenAI has fallen short of several internal targets for new users and revenue in recent months, raising internal questions over the pace of its expansion and the scale of its long-term computing commitments, according to a report.

The concerns, cited in the report, centre on whether the company can sustain its planned data-centre spending if revenue growth does not accelerate. Chief financial officer Sarah Friar has reportedly raised questions within leadership discussions about the company’s ability to meet future computing contract obligations under slower-than-expected growth conditions.

The report said OpenAI missed multiple monthly revenue targets earlier this year, as it lost ground in certain enterprise and coding-related markets to rivals including Anthropic.

In a joint statement to Reuters, chief executive Sam Altman and Friar pushed back on the concerns. “This is ridiculous. We are totally aligned on buying as much compute as we can and working hard on it together every day,” they said.

Growth in ChatGPT usage is also reported to have slowed toward the end of last year. The company had reportedly set an internal goal of reaching 1 billion weekly active users for its chatbot by year-end, a target it did not meet.

The report also noted that OpenAI has faced subscriber churn, adding pressure on its subscription-driven revenue model as competition in the artificial intelligence sector intensifies.