OpenAI admits it is skipping opportunities due to lack of compute
Follow UsOpenAI is currently skipping some opportunities because it does not have enough computing capacity to support them.
OpenAI Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar said that the issue is particularly acute in 2026.
'Today, I do spend a lot of time trying to find any last-minute compute available here in 2026,' Friar said.
OpenAI is seeing massive demand for its AI tools, and the company says it is running into a major challenge. According to OpenAI Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar, the company is currently forced to turn down some opportunities because it does not have enough computing capacity to support them. In an interview with ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood released this week, Friar said that the issue is particularly acute in 2026 as global demand for AI continues to surge.
Survey‘We’re making some very tough trades at the moment and things we’re not pursuing because we don’t have enough compute,’ Friar said, reports Business Insider. She explained that a significant part of her time is currently spent trying to find additional computing capacity. ‘Today, I do spend a lot of time trying to find any last-minute compute available here in 2026.’
OpenAI President Greg Brockman also highlighted this challenge in an interview on the Big Technology Podcast. According to him, the company is struggling to keep up with the growing demand for its AI tools.
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The shortage has forced OpenAI to make choices about where it invests its resources. Brockman said the company is now focusing on a few key areas, such as building a personal AI assistant and developing tools that can handle complex tasks.
‘We cannot build compute fast enough to keep up with demand,’ Brockman said, describing the situation as forcing ‘very painful decisions’ about which products to launch and where to reallocate resources.
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Recently, OpenAI announced plans to discontinue its AI video generation app Sora. However, the company did not provide the reason behind the decision. For those unaware, the AI company launched the standalone Sora app in September 2025. The app allows users to create short videos just by typing prompts. The platform faced some challenges soon after its launch. Just within 24 hours, the app’s feed was filled with unusual and disturbing content, with many videos featuring deepfakes of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
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