OpenAI Turmoil Pushes Customers to Diversify
OpenAI’s management chaos in November could have long-lasting effects on its business as some of the company’s customers say it was a wake-up call about the risks of being too reliant on one company’s tech.
Executives at companies that use OpenAI’s software say they are increasingly looking to also use others’ technology to protect themselves from the risks of problems at any one. OpenAI’s competitors are using the opportunity to sign up wary customers.
After the November board coup that saw OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman removed and then reinstated, senior leaders at Walmart met to remind some internal tech team members that they shouldn’t go directly to OpenAI to build AI tools. Instead, they needed to stick with Walmart’s internally developed platform, which can swap in various AI models—including OpenAI’s—to make sure Walmart’s AI software won’t go down, according to a person familiar with the matter.
