The vibes are off at OpenAI | The Verge

AIReportAnalysisThe vibes are off at OpenAIOpenAI is juggling public controversies, strategy shifts, and increasing competition.by Hayden FieldApr 8, 2026, 1:47 PM UTCLinkShareGift Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge; Getty ImagesAIReportAnalysisThe vibes are off at OpenAIOpenAI is juggling public controversies, strategy shifts, and increasing competition.by Hayden FieldApr 8, 2026, 1:47 PM UTCLinkShareGiftHayden Field is The Verge’s senior AI reporter. An AI beat reporter for more than five years, her work has also appeared in CNBC, MIT Technology Review, Wired UK, and other outlets.OpenAI is in a relatively precarious position. The company is and has been a funding behemoth — just over a week ago, it closed $122 billion in funding at a post-money valuation of $852 billion. It’s potentially planning for an IPO later this year. ChatGPT’s longtime lead in consumer-facing AI led it to name-brand status akin to “Kleenex” for tissues. But in recent months, a slew of executive reshufflings, discontinued projects, and other news has raised questions about how stable the company really is — and how long it may be able to stay on top.OpenAI’s current batch of public controversies started early in the year. At the end of February, the company agreed to an apparently expansive Pentagon contract that its competitor Anthropic had refused to sign out of concerns about autonomous weapons and domestic mass surveillance. The move created controversy both internally and externally, and even C...