OpenAI Growth Stumble Report Rattles AI Stocks

Shares in Oracle and CoreWeave slid Tuesday after a Wall Street Journal report said OpenAI had missed internal targets for users and revenue, stoking fresh fears about whether massive spending on AI infrastructure can be sustained. Oracle dropped four percent to $166 on Wall Street. 

The tech giant has signed one of the biggest cloud deals with OpenAI, amounting to $300 billion in computing power over five years.

CoreWeave’s shares slid 3.7 percent to $107.70. The Nvidia-backed AI startup signed an $11.9 billion contract with OpenAI last month to provide AI infrastructure. Chipmakers including Nvidia, Broadcom and Advanced Micro Devices also declined.

In Asia, Japan’s SoftBank Group - which has poured tens of billions of dollars into OpenAI and holds roughly a 13 percent stake - closed down almost 10 percent in Tokyo trading. The sell-off was triggered by the Journal’s report that OpenAI had missed its own goal of reaching one billion weekly active users for ChatGPT by the end of 2025 and fell short of multiple monthly revenue targets this year.

According to the report, OpenAI chief financial officer Sarah Friar has privately warned company leaders that the firm might be unable to meet future computing contract obligations if revenue growth does not accelerate. 

The reported setback came as web traffic for Google’s Gemini climbed sharply in recent months and archrival Anthropic also sees expansion. The WSJ story also comes as OpenAI lays the groundwork for an initial public offering that could value it at up to $1 trillion.

 OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The sell-off comes days before a closely watched round of earnings reports from the tech giants most exposed to AI infrastructure spending. Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft and Meta are all due to report on Wednesday, with investors set to scrutinize their capital expenditure plans after they committed to roughly $645 billion in AI infrastructure investment in 2026.

A trial that could help shape the future of artificial intelligence began on Tuesday, with billionaires Elon Musk and Sam Altman at odds over the evolution of ChatGPT maker OpenAI from a nonprofit to a profit-seeking juggernaut worth hundreds of billions of dollars. Opening statements in Musk’s civil lawsuit against OpenAI and Altman took place in the Oakland, California, federal court, following the selection on Monday of nine jurors.

Musk claims that Altman and Greg Brockman, respectively OpenAI’s chief executive and president, betrayed him and the public by abandoning the company’s mission to be a benevolent steward of AI for the benefit of humanity, and turning it into a “wealth machine” for themselves and investors. The world’s richest person is seeking $150 billion in damages from OpenAI and Microsoft, one of its largest investors, with proceeds going to OpenAI’s charitable arm. He also wants OpenAI to revert to a nonprofit, with Altman and Brockman removed as officers and Altman removed from its board.

Both Musk and Altman arrived at the courthouse early Tuesday for opening statements.