Major AI laboratories are increasingly positioning themselves against popular applications dependent on their technologies. This week, both Anthropic and OpenAI issued criticisms toward two leading AI applications: Windsurf, a widely used coding tool, and Granola, a trending AI platform designed for meeting note-taking.
Windsurf’s CEO Varun Mohan expressed concerns on X about Anthropic’s recent decision to abruptly reduce access to their Claude 3.x models. “With less than five days of notice, Anthropic decided to cut off nearly all of our first-party capacity,” he stated, adding that Windsurf was willing to compensate for the full capacity. “We are worried that Anthropic’s actions will adversely affect many within the industry, not just Windsurf,” the company pointed out on its website.
Mohan’s company appears to be caught in the crossfire of Anthropic’s rivalry with OpenAI. Reports suggest that OpenAI is considering a substantial acquisition of Windsurf valued at around $3 billion. Although the deal has yet to be announced, the mere possibility was enough for Anthropic to withdraw support for a prominent application in its ecosystem. An Anthropic spokesperson told TechCrunch that the company is “prioritizing capacity for sustainable partnerships.” Co-founder Jared Kaplan succinctly articulated the company’s position: “We really are just trying to enable our customers who are going to sustainably be working with us in the future. It would be odd for us to be selling Claude to OpenAI.”
In a parallel move, OpenAI issued its own declaration regarding the burgeoning AI application landscape. This week, the organization launched a “record mode” for ChatGPT, initially restricted to enterprise accounts. This new feature transcribes calls and generates meeting notes, which is the primary functionality of Granola, a recently funded tool that raised $43 million and introduced a mobile application. Although Granola has demonstrated significant adaptability, the impending availability of similar features to millions of ChatGPT users could pose challenges for its growth.
The escalating tension between OpenAI and Anthropic’s product strategies and the requirements of their API clients raises questions about the future. During a March interview, Anthropic’s chief product officer, Mike Krieger, hinted at the complexities of competing with API customers. He acknowledged the “delicate question” facing all labs, hoping for a “thoughtful” navigation of these competitive overlaps.
AI investor Zak Kukoff summarized the situation succinctly: “At some point, model providers are going to need to decide if they want to be stable platforms or compete for every vertical.”
This week has highlighted the precarious nature of startups building businesses atop AI models. There is a growing awareness that success can lead to a risk of replication by the very providers they depend on. Companies are reevaluating their positions, especially as OpenAI forms a new team to assist API customers in transitioning abstract concepts into tangible applications.
Michael Mignano, a board member at Granola, suggested that the recent maneuvers by leading AI labs might inadvertently favor established giants like Google, Amazon, and Microsoft. “If developers can’t trust the labs, maybe it’s more prudent to depend on the bigger players as they did in the cloud space?” he speculated.
In another vein, two CEOs recently expressed contrasting views on the notion that AI could lead to widespread job losses, particularly in engineering roles. Sundar Pichai, speaking at a tech conference in San Francisco, dismissed fears voiced by Dario Amodei regarding job displacement, emphasizing that technology has often defied such predictions over the past two decades. He remarked, “I expect we will grow from our current engineering base into next year,” pointing out that AI platforms enable teams to accomplish more.
The following day, Snowflake CEO Sridhar Ramaswamy echoed similar sentiments after speaking to developers alongside AI pioneer Andrew Ng. When asked if AI had reshaped his hiring approach, Ramaswamy noted a distinct ranking: experienced engineers leveraging AI tools were in high demand, followed by early-career engineers fully embracing AI. He indicated that new graduates shying away from AI might struggle to secure positions.
Ramaswamy asserted that the workforce segment most vulnerable to immediate displacement includes those in mid-career, resistant to adopting AI technologies. He highlighted a tendency for companies to prioritize operational efficiency, remarking, “How do we get them as leveraged as possible?”
In other news, various remarks captured public interest this week. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez quipped, “Oh, man, the girls are fighting, aren’t they?” discussing a heated moment on Twitter. OpenAI’s Greg Brockman pondered a potential future filled with diverse, domain-specific agents while addressing the audience at an AI engineering fair.
In a curiosity, Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas predicted his company’s growth trajectory, stating, “Give it a year. We’ll be doing a billion queries a week if we can sustain this growth rate.”
Meanwhile, Substack CEO Chris Best humorously noted their unexpected cash flow positivity in the first quarter during a summit focused on the creator economy.
In terms of personnel news, several key changes are occurring across various tech companies. Microsoft has seen LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky assume additional responsibilities overseeing the Office product line. Rohan Anil is transitioning from Meta to join Anthropic, and Richard Fontaine will now serve on Anthropic’s controlling trust board. Additionally, Tesla’s Milan Kovac is leaving to focus on family, while Christian Szegedy, co-founder of xAI, will take on the chief scientist role at a startup named Morph.
Gary Briggs has been appointed as interim chief marketing officer at OpenAI as Kate Rouch takes medical leave. Uber’s board will welcome new member Nikesh Arora, CEO of Palo Alto Networks, along with the promotion of Andrew Macdonald to president and chief operating officer.
For further insights, consider checking out discussions on various topics, such as the shifting dynamics between Elon Musk and Donald Trump, the impact of AI on Meta’s recruitment processes, and reflections on human-AI relationships from OpenAI’s head of model behavior, Joanne Jang.
Moreover, there are fresh analyses on how Hollywood is integrating AI, alongside notable essays regarding the timeline for achieving AGI and challenges facing skeptics.
