OpenAI's missed revenue targets raise questions about ability to meet massive computing commitments exceeding $1.15 trillion

OpenAI has reportedly missed internal growth targets, and CFO Sarah Friar warned that if revenue doesn't accelerate, the company could fail to pay for future computing contracts, according to The Wall Street Journal.

OpenAI's infrastructure obligations now exceed $1.15 trillion across Oracle, Microsoft, and Amazon. In February, the company expanded its $38 billion multi-year commitment to Amazon by $100 billion after Amazon agreed to invest $50 billion in it.

According to Morgan Stanley, even legally non-cancellable AI infrastructure contracts can get renegotiated when major customers face financial trouble, similar to how retailers reworked commercial leases during the pandemic. This dynamic could particularly affect Nvidia, which announced in September it intends to invest up to $100 billion into OpenAI to support the deployment of 10 gigawatts of Nvidia hardware.