Sam Altman Warns of OpenAI Product Delays Due to Capacity Struggles

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has warned that the company’s ongoing capacity challenges will lead to delays in upcoming product releases. In a series of posts on X on Monday, Altman admitted that OpenAI is struggling to keep up with demand, particularly following the explosive popularity of its new image-generation tool in ChatGPT.

“We are getting things under control, but you should expect new releases from OpenAI to be delayed, stuff to break, and for service to sometimes be slow as we deal with capacity challenges,” Altman wrote, adding that his team is “working as fast as we can to really get stuff humming.”

Unprecedented Demand Overwhelms OpenAI’s Systems

The new image-generation tool, which debuted as part of the GPT-4o update, has become a viral sensation—particularly for its ability to replicate artistic styles like Studio Ghibli’s hand-drawn animation. However, the sheer surge in usage has outpaced OpenAI’s infrastructure, leading to service disruptions.

According to Altman, ChatGPT gained a million new users in a single hour on Monday, pushing its total user base to 500 million weekly users and 20 million paying subscribers. This marks a massive increase from 300 million users and 15.5 million subscribers at the end of 2024.

Measures to Ease Server Strain

To address the situation, OpenAI has:

• Delayed the rollout of image generation for free-tier ChatGPT users

• Temporarily disabled video generation for new users of Sora, OpenAI’s suite of generative AI media tools

These adjustments reflect OpenAI’s broader struggles with scalability as it continues to push the boundaries of AI creativity and usability. With demand skyrocketing, the company faces the challenge of balancing innovation with operational stability—a test that will shape its next phase of growth.