Episode summary
OpenAI-Linked Stocks Slip; Investors Focus on AI Ahead of Big Tech Earnings | Bloomberg Businessweek
Bloomberg Businessweek Daily
· · 31 min · Hosts: Carol Massar, Tim Stenovec · Guests: Mandeep Singh, Sarah Frier, Rachel Metz, Mitch Berlin
Summary
OpenAI’s reported miss on internal sales and user targets sparked a broader reset in AI-stock sentiment, with Oracle, CoreWeave and SoftBank-linked shares falling as investors again questioned whether the huge sums flowing into artificial intelligence will earn enough back. The host and guests framed the report as part of a larger debate over circular financing, private-company transparency and whether the current wave of AI spending is justified by real revenue.
Mandeep Singh argued that OpenAI still has room to compete, but that the business will need many more large use cases beyond coding agents to justify its valuation and the industry’s capex. Rachel Metz said coding is the clearest near-term winner, while drug discovery, office software and scientific applications remain early-stage. Sarah Frier said the biggest test will come from the megacap earnings reports, where investors will press Meta, Microsoft, Amazon and Alphabet on whether AI spending is producing concrete revenue, efficiency gains and cloud demand.
Later, Mitch Berlin of EY said business leaders are reassessing growth plans amid inflation, tariffs, supply-chain strain and higher capital costs, while still pursuing deals because transformation is accelerating. He said AI remains early but could become valuable when it automates entire value streams, not just isolated tasks.
Key takeaways
- OpenAI’s reported miss revived doubts about whether the AI boom is producing enough demand to justify the capital being deployed into the sector.
- Mandeep Singh said AI vendors will need roughly 10 major use cases, not just coding, to support the current funding and capex levels.
- Rachel Metz said coding is the clearest proof point so far, while drug discovery and office workflows are still early and largely unproven.
- Sarah Frier said investors will focus on whether the mag-7 can show direct AI revenue, cloud demand and efficiency gains in earnings.
- Mitch Berlin said CEOs are revisiting growth strategies because higher rates, tariffs and supply-chain issues have made the deal environment more uncertain.
Notable quotes
“we are I think continuing to question the AI spend, the return on investment when it comes to artificial intelligence”
“that circular financing aspect is huge as well but they have to find a lot more use cases”
“there's not going to be one winner here and these companies always seem to be shifting places”
“These companies that are reporting tomorrow have planned 650 billion in AI infrastructure, AI spending for this year”
“the value really will come is when you can automate an entire value stream”
How the episode opens
Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio, news. — This is Bloomberg Business Week Daily, reporting from the magazine that helps global leaders stay ahead with insight on the people, companies, and trends shaping today's complex economy. Plus, global business, finance, and tech news as it happens. the Bloomberg Business Week daily podcast with Carol Masser and Tim Stenc on Bloomberg radio.
So, a very big week when it comes to tech earnings and it comes um because we are I think continuing to question the AI spend, the return on investment when it comes to artificial intelligence, that buildout and some of it had to do with the conversations we've had around open AI today.
Yeah. the backdrop of questions over the growth of that company. The Wall Street Journal reporting late yesterday that OpenAI had fallen short of several internal targets as rivals gained ground.
OpenAI described the report as quote prime clickbait though we did see that report resonate far and wide in today's trade. Oracle shares took a hit. Coreweave was down.
ADRs of SoftBank an investor in OpenAI took the hit. Uh the journal also reporting that OpenAI CEO has expressed concerns or CFO rather has expressed concerns that the company may not be able to afford its reporting its future computing needs if sales don't grow fast enough.
Yeah, we've seen OpenAI push back about some of those concerns. Um also today, Amazon says it will make OpenAI's AI models available to its customers after Microsoft dropped its exclusive rights to sell OpenAI products. So take that
That's it that happened today. That was like a full page of things that happened. It's kind of why we wanted to pull in um three key members of the Bloomberg news team and and the Bloomberg intelligence team and really just kind of do a deep dive into what's going on with open open AI but AI generally especially as we get ready for these big tech names to report and they're going to obviously be weighing in on the AI spend.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- openai sales targets
- ai stock selloff
- big tech ai capex
- chatgpt market impact
- big tech earnings focus
Companies and tickers mentioned
- MSFT
- META
- AMZN
- GOOGL
- GOOG
- OpenAI
- Microsoft
- Meta Platforms
- Amazon.com
- Alphabet
- EY
Watch the episode
Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
More from Bloomberg Businessweek Daily
-
Bloomberg Businessweek Weekend - November 13th, 2026 | Bloomberg Businessweek -
Inside Jensen Huang’s Final Hours as Nvidia CEO | Bloomberg Businessweek -
Jensen Huang's Exit Kicks Off Nvidia Strategy Reset | Bloomberg Businessweek -
Special Episode: Bobby Jain on Why He Chose Millennium Again | Bloomberg Businessweek -
Bloomberg Businessweek Daily Podcast: Jensen’s Nvidia Departure -
Take-Two Releasing Long-Awaited Grand Theft Auto VI Next Week | Bloomberg Businessweek
Bloomberg Businessweek Daily, this episode and its artwork belong to Bloomberg. Octagon is not affiliated with the show; this page is an independent summary.
