The HumanX AI conference in San Francisco this week saw thousands of technology professionals gather at the Moscone Center, with discussions centred on the rise of agentic AI and its business applications. Among the various enterprise and consumer chatbots being deployed, one name was consistently cited as the most popular by attendees and vendors: Claude, developed by Anthropic.
Throughout the event's panels and on the convention floor, Anthropic's chatbot received frequent praise. In contrast, OpenAI's ChatGPT was mentioned far less, with one vendor explicitly stating his team heavily uses Claude while perceiving ChatGPT and OpenAI to have "gone downhill." This sentiment reflects a growing perception in the tech community that OpenAI, despite a recent $122 billion funding round and its impending IPO, may be losing its innovative edge.
OpenAI's Strategic Shifts and Public Perception
Analysts suggest OpenAI's challenges may stem from a perceived lack of focus. Last month, the company abandoned several long-term projects, including its Sora AI video generator and plans for a "sexy" ChatGPT variant, to concentrate on business and coding services. This pivot occurs alongside negative publicity, including a New Yorker profile questioning the trustworthiness of CEO Sam Altman and controversy over the company's work with the Trump administration and the introduction of advertising into ChatGPT.
During a HumanX panel, Sierra CEO and OpenAI board chairman Bret Taylor defended Altman. "I think Sam is one of the most visible leaders and executives in the world," Taylor told reporter Alex Heath. "If you want to seek out detractors for him, you’ll find them... I think he’s a remarkable leader of AI, and I really trust his character as someone who’s worked with him."
A Competitive Landscape Takes Shape
Despite the controversies, OpenAI and Anthropic remain closely matched in prominence and revenue, with The Wall Street Journal recently analysing their finances as "the fastest-growing businesses in the history of tech." Some data indicates Anthropic is gaining ground among business users, suggesting the market is becoming more competitive rather than there being a clear leader.
OpenAI appears determined to maintain dominance. This week, it announced a new $100 monthly subscription tier for ChatGPT offering substantially more access to its Codex coding tool, a move seen as directly competing with Claude's coding capabilities.
The Rapid Evolution of Agentic AI
The conference highlighted the swift adoption of agentic AI, particularly for automating coding and business tasks. OpenAI's CTO of B2B applications, Srinivas Narayanan, noted the breakneck pace of change during a discussion with Bloomberg's Rachel Metz. "We are in this incredible moment in technology, where every month, and sometimes every day, we are all looking forward to something new," Narayanan said. He pointed to agentic coding, stating, "the entire field has changed" in just the last few months.
While creative and scientific AI applications have yet to fully materialise, the volume of work companies are offloading to automated agents has surprised many, underscoring how quickly this technological shift is occurring and leaving the future of the industry wide open.