OpenAI cuts revenue outlook by $20bn
OpenAI projected to bring in $20bn less in revenue than expected
Sunday, 11 October 2026
Warm-up
- What makes a company change its revenue forecast?
- How can investor confidence affect tech companies?
- Do fast-growing sectors sometimes slow down? Why?
Vocabulary
- forecast
- a prediction of future numbers based on current information
- investor
- a person or organisation that puts money into a business for profit
- revenue
- money a company earns from its normal sales and services
- valuation
- an estimate of how much a company is worth
- discrepancy
- a difference between two numbers or reports that should match
- float
- to list a company on the stock market and sell its shares
- safeguard
- a rule or action that reduces risk or prevents harm
- IPO
- initial public offering, the first sale of a company’s shares to the public
Reading
Listen to this story
British EnglishOpenAI told investors that its projected revenue for this year is $50bn, about $20bn below the $70bn it signalled last month, raising doubts about the break‑neck growth of demand for artificial intelligence. Markets reacted: the tech‑led Nasdaq closed down 1.4%, while Nvidia fell 2.9%, Oracle 5.5% and Micron 4.8% as the news buffeted US tech stocks.
A key discrepancy comes from how rivals report sales. Anthropic’s forecast includes revenue made through cloud partners such as Amazon’s AWS and Google Cloud, but OpenAI does not count those sales. Anthropic hit $65bn in forecast revenue by the end of July. Even so, OpenAI is in early‑stage talks to raise $30bn, which would give it a valuation of about $1.4tn based on recent figures. In March, OpenAI closed a $122bn fundraising at a valuation of $852bn.
Sam Altman said OpenAI would not float this year, citing AI safety concerns after reports of rogue agents and researchers quitting. In the US, politicians from both parties are calling for new safeguards, and two researchers from Anthropic warned that rapid AI development without checks could threaten human survival. Anthropic, by contrast, may push ahead with an IPO as soon as next month.
Comprehension
- What revenue figure has OpenAI now projected for this year?
- How much lower is this than the amount signalled last month?
- What method difference explains the discrepancy with Anthropic’s figures?
- Which index fell after the news, and by how much?
- What did Sam Altman say about floating OpenAI this year, and why?
Grammar focus
Three-word phrasal-prepositional verbs
Verb + particle + preposition (e.g., keep up with, face up to). The preposition stays with the verb and the object comes after it; you can’t split the string. (Examples constructed.)
- Politicians want firms to crack down on unsafe AI.
- Startups could run out of cash in a downturn.
Grammar exercise
Circle the correct option in each sentence.
- Firms must live up (for / to) safety promises.
- Some rivals plan to push ahead (with / to) IPOs.
- Startups need to keep up (to / with) investor demand.
- Lawmakers aim to crack down (on / at) risky releases.
- Teams tried to face up (for / to) governance gaps.
Discussion
- Should AI firms include cloud‑partner sales in revenue? Why or why not?
- Do the market moves show over‑optimism about AI, or a healthy check?
- Is delaying a float the best way to address safety concerns?
- How should governments design safeguards without slowing innovation?
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