OpenAI has disclosed a $20 billion shortfall in projected revenue compared to earlier estimates provided to investors, prompting scrutiny over the anticipated rapid growth in AI demand.
The company behind ChatGPT informed investors that it expects this year’s revenue to reach $50 billion, based on sales up to September. This figure is notably lower than the $70 billion it had previously projected, according to data shared with investors last month.
Annualized revenue forecasts by major AI companies, such as OpenAI and its competitor Anthropic (makers of Claude), are closely monitored by markets as indicators of AI technology demand, which is attracting significant investment.
OpenAI is in preliminary discussions to secure $30 billion in funding, valuing the company at approximately $1.4 trillion. The announcement of the $20 billion revenue gap affected U.S. tech stocks, with the Nasdaq, led by tech companies, closing down 1.4%. Chipmaker Nvidia dropped 2.9%, Oracle fell 5.5%, and Micron declined 4.8%.
The revenue discrepancy arose from efforts to align OpenAI’s revenue projections with those of Anthropic, which forecasted $65 billion in revenue by July's end. Unlike OpenAI, Anthropic includes sales through cloud partners like Amazon's AWS and Google Cloud.
Last month, OpenAI's CEO Sam Altman announced the company would not pursue a stock market float this year, citing AI safety concerns. This decision followed incidents of AI systems malfunctioning and AI safety experts resigning due to perceived risks.
Both Democratic and Republican lawmakers are advocating for new AI governance regulations, especially after Anthropic researchers warned that unchecked AI development could pose existential threats to humanity.
Anthropic plans to proceed with an initial public offering (IPO) potentially as soon as next month. OpenAI’s latest funding round in March raised $12.2 billion, valuing the company at $82.2 billion.
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