--- title: "AI Bubble Teetering on the Brink as OpenAI Admits to Massive Financial Failure in Leaked Documents" description: "It turns out that AI demand is significantly lower than expected, as OpenAI shaves $20 billion off its revenue expectations for 2026." date: "2026-10-09" modified: "2026-10-09" authors: - name: "Joe Wilkins" job_title: "Correspondent" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jwilkins.md" url: "https://futurism.com/future-society/ai-financial-bubble-openai-billions-failure" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "Finance" - "Future Society" - "OpenAI" --- # AI Bubble Teetering on the Brink as OpenAI Admits to Massive Financial Failure in Leaked Documents ![Open AI CEO Sam Altman does a television interview with CNBC's Kate Rooney.]() *Heather Diehl/Getty Images/Futurism* For anybody who thought AI companies were about to unlock trillions of dollars in profits, OpenAI has bad news for you: it ain't happening anytime soon. Some red-hot reporting [from the *Financial Times*]() just revealed that OpenAI's annualized revenue — an estimated guess at a company's income for the year — is roughly $20 billion lower than anybody had previously expected, including, it seems, OpenAI itself. Because OpenAI is a private company, it's important to note that we don't know for sure what's going on under the hood. That said, the *FT* based its reporting on internal memos to investors issued in late September. Basically, the AI lab told backers to expect revenues approaching $50 billion — far shorter than the explosive $70 billion number reported previously. Though that $70 billion figure was also based on leaked investor memos, OpenAI wasn't in any hurry to deny it, digging itself into a $20 billion hole. Given the monumental difference between those two figures, investors across the world of finance are taking it as a sign that demand for AI is much lower than previously thought — a signal with [ripple effects]() that extend far beyond OpenAI. At the closing bells on Wall Street on Thursday, the tech-heavy Nasdaq index was down a whopping 1.25 percent on the day, while the S&P 500 fell by 0.47 percent. Particularly hard hit were companies sandwiched in the middle of the AI supply-chain, like the chipmaker Nvidia, which tumbled by nearly 3 percent [following the news]() from the *FT*. All of this comes a week after consulting firm Bain and Co issued a gloomy report finding that the global AI industry would have to reach annual revenue of $6 trillion by 2031 to justify the amount of spending on AI data centers — a formidable summit, which is now $20 billion farther after the latest disclosures. **More on AI:** *[Meta Is Using Its Massive AI Data Centers to Avoid Paying Billions of Dollars in Taxes]()* ## Author At Futurism, I focus on the intersection of technology and power — examining the economics, history, and politics behind today’s dystopian headlines. As a writer, I’m interested in topics ranging from AI’s impact on labor to startups nobody asked for. My prior work includes bylines in Jacobin, Verso, and Blue Labyrinths. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Forbes, The Guardian, MIT Technology Review, Time, The Nation, Mother Jones, The Verge, and Wired. I grew up in Michigan, attending Central Michigan University as well as Ball State University, where I earned a master of music. I now live in Brooklyn with my girlfriend and our cat Ziti. On weekends, you can find me hunched over a cold pint arguing geopolitics with the other transplants. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()