OpenAI, the company that helped spark the AI boom, has fallen behind rival Anthropic and is trying to regain momentum, according to a Livemint article published on August 1, 2026 and sourced to The Wall Street Journal. The article says OpenAI’s bets on consumer chatbots and “flashy side projects” overshadowed the AI coding opportunity, which Anthropic used to capture the lead.

OpenAI’s flagship consumer product, ChatGPT, has seen growth slow, while the departure of Fidji Simo, described as Sam Altman’s heir apparent, led to a reshuffle of duties among Altman’s top deputies. Sales staff are also in a costly fight for lucrative business customers, using volume discounts and other sweeteners to win them over.

Some of OpenAI’s largest investors have privately raised concerns in recent months about the startup’s high cash burn compared with its growth, people involved in those conversations said. Other investors have hedged their bets by putting money into Anthropic, the rival named in the article as benefiting from the AI coding opportunity.

The article identifies Sam Altman as OpenAI’s CEO and Dario Amodei as Anthropic’s CEO. It frames OpenAI’s comeback effort around slowing ChatGPT growth, executive responsibility changes after Fidji Simo’s exit, expensive enterprise sales competition and investor worries over spending relative to growth.

OpenAI, the company that helped spark the AI boom, has fallen behind rival Anthropic and is trying to regain momentum, according to a Livemint article published on August 1, 2026 and sourced to The Wall Street Journal. The article says OpenAI’s bets on consumer chatbots and “flashy side projects” overshadowed the AI coding opportunity, which Anthropic used to capture the lead.

OpenAI’s flagship consumer product, ChatGPT, has seen growth slow, while the departure of Fidji Simo, described as Sam Altman’s heir apparent, led to a reshuffle of duties among Altman’s top deputies. Sales staff are also in a costly fight for lucrative business customers, using volume discounts and other sweeteners to win them over.

Some of OpenAI’s largest investors have privately raised concerns in recent months about the startup’s high cash burn compared with its growth, people involved in those conversations said. Other investors have hedged their bets by putting money into Anthropic, the rival named in the article as benefiting from the AI coding opportunity.

The article identifies Sam Altman as OpenAI’s CEO and Dario Amodei as Anthropic’s CEO. It frames OpenAI’s comeback effort around slowing ChatGPT growth, executive responsibility changes after Fidji Simo’s exit, expensive enterprise sales competition and investor worries over spending relative to growth.