OpenAI has fallen short of its key targets for ChatGPT users and revenue, according to Decrypt, citing expert statements.
Chief Financial Officer Sara Fryar warned that computing costs may soon outpace revenues.
The company aimed to attract a billion active users per week by the end of last year, a goal it did not achieve, raising concerns among some investors.
“When the dust settles, companies will find that much of the work still relies on human judgment, collaboration, and contextual understanding, which AI cannot yet replicate,” commented Alice Li, an investment partner at Foresight Ventures.
OpenAI has funded its significant expenses through aggressive deal-making. Fryar cautioned that revenue growth may not be fast enough to cover these contracts.
Board members are scrutinizing agreements with data centers more closely and questioning CEO Sam Altman's push to expand computing capacity amid slowing growth.
Kelly Rodriguez, CEO of Forge, stated that Anthropic has already surpassed OpenAI in market capitalization—$1 trillion compared to $800 billion.
Microsoft Deal
In light of financial uncertainty, OpenAI has revised its agreement with Microsoft. The Windows creator has lost exclusive access to all products and intellectual property of the ChatGPT developer, now holding a non-exclusive license until 2032.
Both companies still refer to Microsoft as OpenAI's "primary cloud partner." This suggests that Azure will support much of the startup's infrastructure for the next six years, while OpenAI aims to build its own data centers in collaboration with other partners.
OpenAI products will be delivered "primarily on Azure," the companies stated. However, the startup "can now provide its solutions to clients through any cloud service provider."
In return, the new agreement frees Microsoft from the obligation to share a portion of revenue with OpenAI.
The corporation retains about 27% of the commercial organization.
Smartphone Development
Creating hardware devices could serve as a "lifeline" for OpenAI's financial situation. Renowned insider and analyst Ming-Chi Kuo from TF International Securities reported that the startup is developing a smartphone chip in collaboration with Qualcomm and MediaTek. Luxshare is responsible for manufacturing and co-designing the system.
— 郭明錤｜Ming-Chi Kuo (@mingchikuo) April 27, 2026
The new device will not just be another smartphone with a chatbot icon. Developers aim to eliminate apps entirely, replacing them with an AI agent capable of executing user commands directly.
“Only by fully controlling both the OS and hardware can OpenAI provide a comprehensive service,” Kuo wrote.
The chip will perform computations both on-device and in the cloud, while the phone will track context in real-time.
Mass production is expected to begin in 2028.
Recall that in May 2025, OpenAI announced the acquisition of a startup led by former Apple design chief Jony Ive, which focuses on creating AI devices.