The global tech sector was shocked by the sharp fall in OpenAI proxy shares after the company reportedly failed to meet its 2026 sales and user growth targets. SoftBank Group fell nearly 10%, while early-stage infrastructure giants Oracle and CoreWeave also fell more than 7%. The fall reflected investor concerns about the sustainability of large investments in AI technology.
OpenAI’s failure not only affected its direct partners, but also dragged down companies that supply data center infrastructure. GE Vernova, Vertiv Holdings, and Caterpillar saw their shares fall as investors worried that tech companies might cut their capital expenditures (CAPEX). If OpenAI were to reduce its computing needs, the hardware and energy supply chains would be hit hard.
Competitors such as Anthropic and Alphabet’s (Google) Gemini model are now seen as starting to overtake OpenAI’s dominance. The success of Claude’s model in the enterprise and coding segments has slowed OpenAI’s growth. This signals an increasingly fierce competition in the generative AI market, where users now have more options that are comparable or better than ChatGPT.
Data shows that the group of companies tied to OpenAI has underperformed Alphabet’s proxy. Since the end of 2024, the OpenAI proxy has risen just 75% compared to a more than 300% rise for Google-related companies. This performance gap reflects a shift in investor sentiment, with more confidence in Google’s AI business model and that of other competitors.
Market analysts are warning that AI’s “honeymoon” phase may be over. Investors are no longer just looking at the promise of the technology, but are demanding tangible proof in the form of sales results and user growth. Tuesday’s stock plunge is a reminder that spending billions of dollars on AI must translate into sustainable financial gains to maintain market confidence
