OpenAI Calls Wall Street Journal Report Sensationalist, Says All Businesses are “Firing on All Cylinders”
OpenAI refuted doubts about its sales growth prospects on Tuesday, stating that its consumer and enterprise businesses are “firing on all cylinders” despite reports that the company failed to meet internal goals. The Wall Street Journal reported Monday evening that OpenAI has missed several targets as competitors catch up. OpenAI called the report “typical sensationalism.”
The ChatGPT developer said demand from enterprise customers and its nascent advertising business continue to grow. “Internal morale is very high,” the company said in a statement.
Shares of several OpenAI investors and partners, including SoftBank, Oracle and CoreWeave, fell on Tuesday. The Wall Street Journal also reported that OpenAI Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar had outbursts, worrying the company might not be able to afford future computing power if sales growth wasn’t fast enough.
Investors have grown increasingly concerned about a potential bubble in artificial intelligence infrastructure, questioning whether OpenAI and other tech companies’ plans to spend tens of billions of dollars on data centers and chips in the coming years will deliver economic returns.
OpenAI said in a statement on Tuesday that the company still views expanding computing power as a “key driver,” which will help provide customers with a better product experience.
However, OpenAI had already begun to take a more cautious approach to infrastructure investment even before the Wall Street Journal report.
OpenAI recently said it plans to pause a project in the UK. Microsoft has also agreed to lease data center capacity in Norway originally reserved for OpenAI. In March, Bloomberg reported that Oracle and OpenAI abandoned plans to expand a flagship AI data center in Texas due to stalled funding negotiations.
CoreWeave pointed out on Tuesday that OpenAI is not its only partner. The company said in a statement that its clients also include Google, Meta Platforms, Anthropic and Microsoft, adding that “demand for compute continues to grow.”