Is OpenAI’s growth slowing at the wrong time?

OpenAI is reportedly falling behind its own growth expectations, raising internal concerns as the company moves closer to a potential public offering.

In recent months, the company has missed several targets for both revenue and new users—an unexpected slowdown for one of the most prominent players in the artificial intelligence boom, News.Az reports, citing Reuters.

At the center of the concern is whether OpenAI can sustain its aggressive spending on data centers and computing power. Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar has warned internally that future infrastructure commitments could become difficult to fund if revenue growth does not accelerate, the report said.

Competition is also intensifying. OpenAI has reportedly lost ground to rival Anthropic in key areas such as coding tools and enterprise solutions—two of the fastest-growing segments in the AI market.

Despite the concerns, CEO Sam Altman pushed back on the narrative, stating that the company remains fully aligned on expanding its computing capacity and investing in long-term growth.

Still, signs of slowing momentum are emerging. Growth of ChatGPT reportedly decelerated toward the end of last year, and OpenAI failed to meet an ambitious internal goal of reaching 1 billion weekly active users.

The company has also faced challenges in retaining subscribers, adding further pressure at a time when expectations are especially high.

As OpenAI continues to scale rapidly and invest heavily in infrastructure, the gap between its ambitions and current performance is becoming a key issue—especially with an IPO potentially on the horizon.

News.Az 

By Aysel Mammadzada