On October 2, 2024, OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, attracted significant investment from global investors including Thrive Capital and Tiger Global, totaling $6.6 billion. However, OpenAI is also seeking a commitment from these investors to refrain from funding five rival companies that it views as direct competitors.
The list of targeted rivals includes companies developing large language models, such as Anthropic and Elon Musk's xAI. Notably, Ilya Sutskever, co-founder of OpenAI, has also launched a new venture, Safe Superintelligence (SSI), which is included in the list. These companies are in a competitive race to develop advanced large language models, each commanding substantial financial backing.
Additionally, the conversation with investors highlighted two AI application firms: AI search startup Perplexity and enterprise search company Glean, indicating OpenAI's strategy to expand its revenue streams by selling more tools to enterprises and end users.
OpenAI, Perplexity, and SSI declined to comment on the matter, while Anthropic and Glean did not respond immediately. Efforts to reach xAI for comment were unsuccessful.
This development underscores the intense competition in the AI sector, where financial commitments can significantly influence market dynamics and innovation.