Story perspectives

OpenAI Misses User, Revenue Goals; Shares Plunge

4/28/2026

Summary

Story summary

OpenAI missed its 1 billion weekly active user goal and its annual revenue target.
CFO Sarah Friar warned the shortfall may leave revenue insufficient for future computing contracts.
Shares fell, with SoftBank down 11.9% and CoreWeave down 7.1%, as OpenAI’s valuation was $852 billion after a $122 billion funding round.
OpenAI pledged $600 billion for computing and tasked board members with reviewing deals amid a 2026 IPO dispute between Friar and CEO Sam Altman.

History

Historical Context

Amazon’s May 15 1997 IPO raised $54 million, giving venture firm Kleiner Perkins a 10 % stake and fueling the dot-com surge. Decades later, OpenAI’s 2026 IPO clash—featuring SoftBank, CoreWeave, CFO Sarah Friar and CEO Sam Altman—mirrors that capital-driven turbulence, highlighting how massive funding rounds and board disputes can reshape tech-sector valuations and prompts heightened regulatory scrutiny of shareholder activism.

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Story summary

OpenAI missed its 1 billion weekly active user goal and its annual revenue target.
CFO Sarah Friar warned the shortfall may leave revenue insufficient for future computing contracts.
Shares fell, with SoftBank down 11.9% and CoreWeave down 7.1%, as OpenAI’s valuation was $852 billion after a $122 billion funding round.
OpenAI pledged $600 billion for computing and tasked board members with reviewing deals amid a 2026 IPO dispute between Friar and CEO Sam Altman.

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