OpenAI Falls Short of Several Sales Targets, CFO Questions Readiness for Year-End IPO

According to a report in The Wall Street Journal on April 27, citing people familiar with the matter, OpenAI failed to meet its internally set sales targets for several consecutive months in 2026, and ChatGPT also did not reach the company’s internal milestone of 1 billion weekly active users by the end of 2025. The report says OpenAI’s chief financial officer, Sarah Friar, expressed concerns about the company’s financial sustainability and how prepared it is for its plans to go public by the end of the year.

Specific circumstances of missed sales targets

According to a report in The Wall Street Journal citing people familiar with the matter, OpenAI failed to meet its internal sales targets for several consecutive months in 2026. The competitive backdrop includes Anthropic PBC making progress in programming and the enterprise market. The report notes that ChatGPT did not meet the internal goal of 1 billion weekly active users by the end of 2025. The company has yet to announce that it has reached this milestone, which has made some investors uneasy.

According to people familiar with the relevant data cited by The Wall Street Journal, the churn rate of subscription users is also a challenge the company is currently facing, with Google’s Gemini rising rapidly in 2025 as one of the key contributing factors.

CFO Sarah Friar’s financial and IPO reservations

According to The Wall Street Journal’s report, OpenAI’s CFO Sarah Friar said in discussions with senior executives that if revenue growth is not fast enough, the company may not be able to cover its future compute contract costs and data center expenses.

Friar also conveyed her reservations about the company’s plans to go public by year-end to executives and the board of directors, noting that OpenAI needs to improve internal controls and saying the company is not yet prepared to meet the stringent information disclosure standards required of public companies.

Frequently asked questions

What specific details about OpenAI missing sales targets are revealed in The Wall Street Journal’s report?

According to The Wall Street Journal’s April 27, 2026 report citing people familiar with the matter, OpenAI missed its internal sales targets for several consecutive months in 2026. ChatGPT also failed to meet the internal target of 1 billion weekly active users by the end of 2025, and the churn rate of subscription users is likewise a current challenge.

What concerns did OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar express regarding the company’s finances and its listing plans?

According to The Wall Street Journal’s report, Friar said that if revenue growth is not fast enough, the company may not be able to afford future compute contract costs. She also expressed reservations to executives and the board of directors about the plans to go public by year-end, stating that the company is not yet prepared to meet the information disclosure standards and internal control requirements needed for a public company.

Which competitors does The Wall Street Journal list as background factors for the sales pressure on OpenAI?

According to The Wall Street Journal’s report, Anthropic PBC making progress in programming and the enterprise market, as well as Google’s Gemini rising rapidly in 2025, are listed as background factors contributing to the sales pressure and subscription user churn faced by OpenAI.