The Conference That Changed the Conversation
The HumanX AI conference brought thousands of technology professionals to San Francisco’s Moscone Center this week, all eager to explore how agentic AI is revolutionizing business operations. These intelligent systems, designed to automate complex business and coding tasks, have transitioned from experimental prototypes into practical tools deployed across industries through both enterprise solutions and consumer-facing applications.
During my time at the conference, one question kept surfacing: which chatbot are companies actually using? The answer was remarkably consistent. Claude, Anthropic’s platform, emerged as the clear winner in nearly every conversation I had with vendors and during numerous panel discussions throughout the week.
The Claude Moment
Anthropic received consistent recognition across multiple panel sessions, and the company was a frequent topic of conversation on the conference floor. In stark contrast, ChatGPT barely registered in most discussions. One vendor I spoke with was particularly candid about his experience, explaining that he and his team had switched to Claude while feeling that ChatGPT and OpenAI had fundamentally declined in quality and relevance—or as the tech community colorfully puts it, had “fallen off.”
This sentiment does not appear to be an isolated opinion. Instead, it reflects a growing perception that OpenAI, despite securing a massive $122 billion funding round and preparing for an upcoming initial public offering, has lost momentum and direction in the competitive AI landscape.
Strategic Missteps and Lost Focus
OpenAI’s challenges appear rooted partly in a lack of clear strategic direction. Last month, the company discontinued several long-term projects, including its AI video generator Sora and an ill-fated initiative to develop a provocatively styled version of ChatGPT. The company has now narrowed its focus exclusively to business and coding services.
Beyond product strategy, several damaging developments have contributed to negative perceptions. A recent New Yorker article raised serious questions about CEO Sam Altman’s trustworthiness, sparking widespread negative commentary. Additionally, OpenAI’s partnership with the Trump administration and its decision to introduce advertising into ChatGPT have further eroded goodwill among some segments of the user base.
These decisions and controversies paint a picture of a company acting reactively rather than strategically—responding to circumstances rather than proactively shaping the industry’s future.
A Public Defense
During a HumanX panel discussion, Bret Taylor, co-founder and CEO of Sierra and chairman of OpenAI’s board, offered a defense of Altman when asked about the New Yorker profile by journalist Alex Heath. Taylor acknowledged that Altman, as a highly visible executive, naturally attracts critics.
“I think Sam is one of the most visible leaders and executives in the world,” Taylor said. “If you want to seek out detractors for him, you’ll find them, and they’ll be very vocal about it.”
He continued with strong personal endorsement: “I think Sam’s remarkable. I think he’s a remarkable leader of AI, and I really trust his character as someone who’s worked with him.”
Two Giants Running Parallel
When examining financial performance and market presence, OpenAI and Anthropic appear surprisingly evenly matched. Available data suggests Anthropic is steadily gaining ground among business users. The Wall Street Journal recently conducted a financial analysis of both companies, concluding they represent “the fastest-growing businesses in the history of tech.”
In this context, OpenAI’s situation may be less about collapse and more about losing its status as the unquestioned market leader. The company now faces legitimate competition—a normal dynamic in most industries but perhaps unexpected in a space that OpenAI had dominated so completely.
The Competitive Response
OpenAI is clearly determined to regain and maintain its market position. This week, the company announced a new $100 monthly subscription tier for ChatGPT that provides substantially expanded access to Codex, its coding tool. This move appears strategically designed to increase adoption of the coding platform while attracting users away from Claude Code, Anthropic’s competing offering.
The Rapid Evolution of AI Capabilities
During a HumanX discussion with Bloomberg reporter Rachel Metz, OpenAI’s Chief Technology Officer for B2B Applications, Srinivas Narayanan, highlighted just how quickly the technological landscape is evolving.
“We are in this incredible moment in technology, where every month, and sometimes every day, we are all looking forward to something new,” Narayanan observed. He pointed to agentic coding as a prime example of this accelerating change.
“We knew AI was going to impact software engineering, and people have been using assistive coding over the last year,” he explained. “But even in just the last few months, the entire field has changed.”
Agentic AI Takes Center Stage
The technology community’s current focus on agentic capabilities stems partly from the fact that other AI applications—particularly creative uses—have yet to achieve meaningful market adoption. However, the volume of work that companies have begun automating through these intelligent systems is genuinely surprising.
Narayanan’s observations underscore an important reality: this transformation has unfolded in an remarkably short timeframe. What seemed like speculative possibility just months ago is now operational reality across multiple business sectors.
What Comes Next
In such a rapidly evolving and unpredictable environment, predicting the future proves nearly impossible. Both OpenAI and Anthropic continue innovating, competing for market share and developer loyalty. Claude’s current momentum at industry conferences and among enterprise users is undeniable, yet OpenAI’s substantial resources, experienced team, and continued innovation suggest the competition remains genuinely competitive.
The technology landscape will continue shifting, possibly at an accelerating pace. The outcome of this competitive battle will likely depend on which company better understands and anticipates market needs in the coming months.
