OpenAI "lost" internal targets: user loss, enterprise territory being eroded, adding variables to the IPO road ahead.

According to reports, OpenAI has recently failed to achieve its internal targets for user growth and sales, intensifying concerns within the company about whether it can support the high costs of AI infrastructure. It is reported that in 2026, OpenAI has not met its sales targets for several consecutive months, primarily due to the continued expansion of competitor Anthropic's market share in programming and enterprise markets. User churn remains a challenge, as ChatGPT chatbot Siasun Robot & Automation failed to meet its internal goal of 1 billion weekly active users by the end of 2025. Meanwhile, Alphabet Inc. Class C's Gemini saw a significant increase in popularity last year, with Gemini achieving substantial growth by the end of last year, eroding OpenAI's market share. OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar has communicated with other company executives that if sales growth is not fast enough, the company may not be able to afford the necessary computing costs. Investors' concerns about AI developers and tech giants are also rising, as they believe that their investments in data centers and AI chips are too high and the return prospects are unclear. OpenAI had previously promised to invest over $1.4 trillion in AI infrastructure. To support this game, OpenAI and Anthropic are increasingly raising funds from overlapping venture capital funds and tech companies. In February of this year, OpenAI completed its largest funding round to date, raising $110 billion, with the main investor being SoftBank Group. SoftBank committed to investing $30 billion in this round, causing its Tokyo-listed shares to fall by 7.5%. This latest commitment will bring SoftBank's total investment in OpenAI to $64.6 billion by the end of the year, with a stake of approximately 13%. Roadblocks on the road to IPO At this juncture, the company is preparing for its highly anticipated initial public offering (IPO) plan, which has quickly attracted widespread attention to the commercial sustainability of this AI giant. Previously, there had been internal disagreements within OpenAI about the timing of the IPO, with differing opinions among senior leadership. CFO Sarah Friar internally stated that given the large scale of preparations, including ongoing improvements in processes, compliance, and organizational structure, the company may not be ready for listing by the end of 2026. However, CEO Sam Altman is much more positive, stating that he intends to push for an IPO as early as the fourth quarter of this year. Friar expressed concerns about the financial risks OpenAI faces due to its large investments in computing infrastructure. Projections show that the company may consume over $200 billion in cash before achieving positive cash flow. Additionally, OpenAI has committed to investing over $600 billion in cloud server capacity over the next five years. Friar specifically mentioned that the structure of these commitments is complex, with a large part of the previously announced $122 billion in financing expected to come from Amazon.com, Inc. and NVIDIA Corporation, both of which are also cloud service and chip suppliers for OpenAI, potentially posing risks to the capital structure.