OpenAI’s newly appointed revenue chief, Denise Dresser, circulated an internal communication to the company’s workforce this past Sunday. In the message, Dresser acknowledged the hurdles that the AI startup is encountering in the industry, particularly in its competition with Anthropic. She also alleged that Microsoft, an early investor in OpenAI, has constrained the company’s expansion into the enterprise sector.
According to a report from The Verge, Dresser emphasized the importance of OpenAI evolving into a multi-product brand to retain users and prevent them from switching to competitors like Anthropic.
Denise pointed out that OpenAI is positioned to ultimately triumph over Anthropic. She asserted that the rival company, led by Dario Amodei, is founded on fear surrounding AI. Denise elaborated, stating, “Their narrative is constructed on fear, limitations, and the notion that a small cohort of elites should govern AI.” Contrarily, she expressed confidence that OpenAI’s “optimistic message” will prevail in due course.
Denise Dresser acknowledged that Anthropic’s emphasis on Claude Code initially gave them an advantage. However, she believed that the AI startup erred in not investing sufficiently in computational resources. Dresser remarked, “Their strategic blunder of inadequate compute acquisition is manifesting in their product.”
Anthropic recently disclosed an annual run-rate of $30 billion, surpassing OpenAI’s $25 billion run-rate. Nevertheless, Dresser suspected that Anthropic’s figures might be inflated. She stated, “They employ accounting practices that inflate revenue figures, including inflating revenue sharing with Amazon and Google. Our analysis indicates that this overestimates their run-rate by approximately $8 billion (based on the current $30 reported).”
In a bid to lessen dependency on Microsoft and shift focus to Amazon, Denise Dresser highlighted that Microsoft’s role as a primary investor and cloud provider for OpenAI has hindered the company from accessing clients on alternative platforms such as Amazon’s Bedrock. She explained, “Our partnership with Microsoft has been fundamental to our achievements. However, it has also restricted our ability to engage with enterprises across various platforms, notably Bedrock.”
OpenAI stands to gain substantial market share in the enterprise sector by offering access to its models through Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Bedrock. The company, under the leadership of Sam Altman, is striving to enhance its market share among enterprises as it competes with Anthropic. Recently, OpenAI informed its employees that it would no longer pursue side projects and would instead focus on tools like Codex.
Both OpenAI and Anthropic are gearing up for their respective initial public offerings this year. While OpenAI is presently valued at $852 billion, Anthropic holds a market cap of $350 billion.
Dresser concluded the memorandum by urging employees to maintain their focus on customers and collaborate effectively to uphold OpenAI’s leadership position. She emphasized, “The market is within our grasp; let’s act accordingly.”