On April 28, multiple media outlets reported that OpenAI failed to achieve its internal sales targets. Following the news, US stock futures declined and AI-related tech stocks came under pressure.
Event Overview
The timing is notable—it came just one week after GPT-5.5’s release. While the new model received significant technical attention, commercial monetization speed appears not to have kept pace with product iteration.
Background: Structural Changes in AI Spending
Q1 2026 data reveals complexity:
- AI sector Q1 funding: approximately $242 billion, about 80% of global VC total
- But funds concentrated in few “mega rounds”: OpenAI ($122B), Anthropic ($30B), xAI ($20B), Waymo ($16B)
- This means smaller AI startups are seeing their funding share squeezed
Meanwhile, some enterprises are conducting stricter ROI evaluations of AI investments.
Key Signals
1. Polarizing Model Pricing
GPT-5.5 doubled its pricing ($5/$30 per MTok), while DeepSeek V4-Flash costs only 1/166 of GPT-5.5.
2. Cautious Enterprise Procurement
When industry leaders miss targets, it may indicate:
- Some enterprises didn’t move from trial to large-scale purchase
- Stricter ROI evaluation
- Open source modelsdiversion paid demand
3. Competitive Pressure from Open Source Models
DeepSeek V4’s open source release (1.6T parameters) provides enterprises more low-cost alternatives.
Industry Impact
If confirmed, this may mark a new phase for the AI industry:
- From “growth narrative” to “profit narrative”
- From “single-model dependency” to “multi-model strategy”
- From “blind expansion” to “precision investment”