OpenAI revenue falls short of investor expectations as AI bubble warnings grow
Warnings about an AI bust are getting louder after OpenAI's real revenue came in far below what investors had been told — bad news for chip stocks and anyone whose portfolio leans on the AI trade.
- OpenAI's annualized revenue is running about $20 billion below the figure circulating among investors.
- Chip and AI infrastructure stocks fell on the news, including Nvidia, Oracle and Micron.
- Jefferies expects the AI boom to end in huge losses, with cheap open-source Chinese models taking market share.
- Most of the data center buildout is paid for with high-interest debt, not customer cash, so a revenue miss hits credit hard.
- Open-source clones of Adobe's main products, built with AI help, suggest software IP itself may be losing its value.
Outlook: If AI revenue keeps undershooting the promises, the debt behind the data center boom becomes the weak point — and the whole market feels it.