- OpenAI missed its own internal targets for new user acquisition and enterprise sales, the Wall Street Journal reported on April 28, 2026.
- The shortfalls have generated internal concern about whether the company’s commercial performance can sustain its AI infrastructure spending obligations.
- The report arrives as OpenAI is converting from nonprofit to for-profit status, a process where commercial metrics directly inform valuation negotiations.
- Bloomberg, which covered the WSJ story, noted OpenAI had not responded to a request for comment at time of publication.
What Happened
OpenAI failed to meet its own internal benchmarks for new user acquisition and enterprise sales, the Wall Street Journal reported on April 28, 2026, in a story subsequently covered by Bloomberg. According to Bloomberg’s summary of the Journal’s reporting, the shortfalls have fueled “internal concerns that the company may struggle to support its astronomical spending on AI infrastructure.” OpenAI did not respond to Bloomberg’s request for comment at time of publication.
Why It Matters
OpenAI, led by CEO Sam Altman, has made significant infrastructure commitments contingent on sustained commercial growth. In January 2025, the company joined SoftBank and Oracle in announcing Stargate — a joint venture targeting up to $500 billion in U.S. AI infrastructure investment over four years, with an initial $100 billion pledged for near-term deployment. Revenue shortfalls increase the company’s reliance on continued external capital rather than operating income to fund those obligations.
The competitive environment has also intensified since OpenAI’s last major fundraise. Google’s Gemini platform, Anthropic’s Claude series, and Meta’s openly licensed Llama models have each expanded capabilities, while the emergence of DeepSeek’s R1 model in early 2025 demonstrated that competitive AI performance could be achieved at considerably lower training costs — putting downward pressure on premium AI pricing across the industry.
OpenAI is simultaneously converting from its nonprofit governance structure to a for-profit public benefit corporation, a transition that has faced legal challenges and regulatory scrutiny. The completion of that process depends in part on valuation agreements where commercial performance data serves as a primary input.
Technical Details
The Journal’s reporting, as summarized by Bloomberg, identified two distinct underperformance categories: new user acquisition targets and sales targets. The specific quantitative benchmarks, the time period assessed, and the magnitude of the gaps were not disclosed in Bloomberg’s summary. The framing of “astronomical spending” as the backdrop — per Bloomberg’s coverage — indicates the internal targets were modeled against projected infrastructure obligations, not standalone revenue goals.
OpenAI’s annualized revenue was reported at approximately $3.7 billion at the time of its October 2024 funding round, which valued the company at $157 billion. Prior reporting, including from The Information, noted that OpenAI had projected reaching approximately $11.6 billion in annualized revenue by end of 2025 to support that valuation. ChatGPT had reportedly surpassed 200 million weekly active users as of early 2024 — a figure whose relationship to the specific user acquisition targets cited in the WSJ’s reporting was not clarified in Bloomberg’s coverage.
Who’s Affected
Enterprise customers and API developers who have integrated OpenAI’s models into production workflows are directly exposed to any pricing adjustments the company might introduce to accelerate revenue growth. Investors from the October 2024 funding round — which included SoftBank, Thrive Capital, and others at a $157 billion valuation — face uncertainty around the commercial trajectory underpinning their investment thesis. OpenAI employees holding equity tied to a prospective IPO or liquidity event also face timeline risk if the company must first demonstrate improved commercial performance before advancing any public offering.
What’s Next
OpenAI has not publicly confirmed or contested the Wall Street Journal’s characterization of its internal targets or the scale of the shortfalls. The ongoing for-profit conversion is expected to require further valuation negotiations where commercial performance will be a central factor. Additional reporting on the specific benchmarks missed and any planned adjustments to OpenAI’s pricing, enterprise go-to-market strategy, or infrastructure commitment pace is anticipated as the story develops.
