--- title: "Panicked OpenAI Execs Cutting Projects as Walls Close In" description: "OpenAI’s CEO of applications, Fidji Simo, told employees that the company is \"actively looking at which areas to deprioritize.\"" date: "2026-03-17" modified: "2026-03-17" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/openai-cutting-projects" categories: - "Anthropic" - "Artificial Intelligence" - "OpenAI" - "xAI" --- # Panicked OpenAI Execs Cutting Projects as Walls Close In ![OpenAI’s CEO of applications, Fidji Simo, told employees that the company is "actively looking at which areas to deprioritize."]() *Getty / Futurism* In 2025 alone, OpenAI released a [controversial text-to-video generator](), dubbed Sora, and an [abysmally slow web browser]() called Atlas. It also announced [top-secret hardware]() alongside former Apple exec Jony Ive, and [signed a $200 million contract]() with the US Department of Defense. Meanwhile, the company continues to burn through billions of dollars a month, astronomical losses that have executives there feeling agitated. The company recently [announced]() that it's planning to spend a whopping $600 billion on AI infrastructure by 2030, an ungodly sum only beaten out by its original promise: $1.4 trillion, more than twice the revised figure. Now, the company is coming to terms that it may have spread itself too thin, and is now looking to refocus its resources on its coding and enterprise users. As the [*Wall Street Journal* reports](), OpenAI’s CEO of applications, Fidji Simo, told employees that the company is "actively looking at which areas to deprioritize." "We cannot miss this moment because we are distracted by side quests," she told staff, as quoted by the *WSJ*. "We really have to nail productivity in general and particularly productivity on the business front." The move suggests the Sam Altman-led company is really starting to feel the pressure as the walls continue to close in, with spooked investors questioning when — or if — they'll ever benefit from digging deep into their pockets to fund the venture. The news also shows that the ChatGPT maker is watching as rival Anthropic continues to make headway, quickly establishing itself as the enterprise-facing AI company to beat, following the runaway success of its Claude Code software. The momentum of Claude Code — which, alongside its agentic AI assistant Claude Cowork, [triggered a trillion-dollar selloff last ]()[month]() amid fear that they could make traditional software-as-a-service companies obsolete — is palpable. OpenAI, on the other hand, has thrown lots of spaghetti at the wall, dabbling in image and video generators, among other side projects. Current and former employees told the *WSJ* that OpenAI lost much of its focus last year. And the stakes continue to grow as AI companies, including [OpenAI](), [Anthropic](), and [Elon Musk's xAI]() (now technically under SpaceX's auspices), are rumored to go public later this year. AI companies are also continuing to fight over dwindling access to computing power, with data center capacity becoming increasingly harder to come by. It's an especially complicated dance when multiple projects are involved. OpenAI staffers told the *WSJ* that the company's organizational structure has turned into a mess. OpenAI's latest woes are strongly reminiscent of Altman [declaring "code red]()" last year, with Google's Gemini [emerging as a very real threat](). At the time, Altman urged staffers to improve the quality of the company’s blockbuster chatbot, even at the cost of delaying other projects. Given the latest news, the warning lights have yet to turn off after blinking for three months straight at OpenAI's headquarters. "We are very much acting as if it’s a code red," Simo told staffers, using the same language Altman did in December. "I don’t think necessarily declaring codes for everything makes a ton of sense." **More on OpenAI:** [*Details Emerge About OpenAI’s “Adult Mode”*]() ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()