WSJ scoop sparks market selloff
- OpenAI fell short of internal targets for ChatGPT user growth and 2026 revenue, and the report triggered a broad selloff in AI-linked stocks. - The Wall Street Journal said ChatGPT missed a goal of 1 billion weekly users by end-2025, while Oracle, SoftBank and chip shares fell. - OpenAI disputed the report as “ridiculous” as investors questioned AI infrastructure spending tied to its growth. (reuters.com)
OpenAI missed internal targets for ChatGPT growth and revenue, and AI-linked stocks sold off on April 28 after the Wall Street Journal report landed. (reuters.com) (nbcnews.com) The Journal report, cited by Reuters, said OpenAI fell short of goals for new users and revenue in recent months and raised internal concern about paying for future data-center commitments. (reuters.com) One target in the report stood out: ChatGPT did not reach an internal goal of 1 billion weekly active users by the end of 2025. Reuters said OpenAI also missed several monthly sales targets in 2026. (reuters.com) (forbes.com) The market reaction spread beyond OpenAI because many public companies have tied their own spending and valuations to its demand for computing power. Oracle has a five-year, $300 billion partnership to supply compute for OpenAI operations, according to CNBC. (cnbc.com) SoftBank, one of OpenAI’s biggest investors, fell about 10% in Tokyo trading, CNBC reported. Oracle, CoreWeave, Nvidia and Broadcom also moved lower as investors reassessed how much AI capacity OpenAI may actually need. (cnbc.com) (investopedia.com) OpenAI pushed back. In a statement to Reuters, Sam Altman and Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar called parts of the coverage “ridiculous” and said they were “totally aligned” on buying compute. (reuters.com) The report also sharpened attention on competition, not just demand. Reuters said Anthropic had gained ground in coding and enterprise markets, two areas that matter because business customers usually pay more than casual chatbot users. (reuters.com) That is why one Journal scoop hit chipmakers, cloud suppliers and OpenAI backers at once. If the company growing fastest in generative artificial intelligence is missing its own targets, investors start testing every assumption behind the buildout. (nbcnews.com) (cnbc.com)
