OpenAI’s new revenue chief Denise Dresser sent an internal memo to the company’s staff last Sunday. In the memo, Dresser addressed the challenges the AI startup faced in the industry, particularly when it comes to competing against Anthropic. Dresser also claimed that Microsoft, who was an early investor in OpenAI, limited the company’s reach in the enterprise market.
As per a report from The Verge, Dresser recognised the need for OpenAI to be a multi-product brand that can ensure that users don’t switch to rival companies including Anthropic.
OpenAI chief says Anthropic built on fear
Denise claimed that OpenAI would emerge victorious against Anthropic in the long run. She insisted that the Dario Amodei-led firm was built on fear around AI. The OpenAI chief explained, “Their story is built on fear, restriction, and the idea that a small group of elites should control AI.” On the other hand, she reckoned that OpenAI’s “positive message” would “win over time.”
Denise Dresser accepted that Anthropic’s focus on Claude Code gave the company an early edge. Though she believed that the AI startup had made a big mistake in not purchasing enough compute. Dresser added, “Their strategic misstep to not acquire enough compute is showing up in the product.”
Anthropic recently reported an annual run-rate (ARR) of $30 billion, higher than OpenAI’s ARR of $25 billion. However, Dresser reckoned that Anthropic’s figure may be inflated. She wrote, “They use accounting treatment that makes revenue look bigger than it is, including grossing up rev share with Amazon and Google. Our analysis shows that this overstates their run rate by roughly $8 billion (at the current $30 stated).”
OpenAI chief wants to reduce Microsoft dependence, focus on Amazon
Microsoft has been a key investor and strategic partner for OpenAI. The Redmond giant has been the main cloud provider for OpenAI’s API. Though, OpenAI has been diversifying cloud providers, including CoreWeave, Google, and Oracle, as Microsoft increasingly treats OpenAI as a competitor.
However, according to Denise Dresser, this also prevented the AI startup from reaching clients on other platforms, including Amazon’s Bedrock. She explained, Our Microsoft partnership has been foundational to our success. But it has also limited our ability to meet enterprises where they are – for many that’s Bedrock.”
OpenAI could garner significant entreprise market share if it can provide access to its models via Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Bedrock. The Sam Altman-led firm is trying to get more market share among entreprises as it attempts to compete with Anthropic. The company had recently told employees that it was no longer going to entertain sidequests, and instead was doubling down on tools like Codex.
OpenAI and Anthropic are both preparing for initial public offerings this year. OpenAI is currently valued at $852 billion while Anthropic has a $350 billion market cap.
Dresser concluded the memo by urging employees to remain focused on customers and work collaboratively to maintain OpenAI’s leadership. She wrote, “The market is ours to win, let’s execute accordingly.”
