“OpenAI’s attempt to reconcile ambitious bets on future products and research with a consumer business focused on the here and now in some ways recalls the trade-offs faced by social media giants.”
– Sam Schechner, Berber Jin, and Keach Hagey
The Wall Street Journal analyzes competitive pressures facing ChatGPT’s maker OpenAI. The frontier AI company’s current market leadership is threatened by Google in the immediate future, with the possibility of a device battle with Apple in the longer term.
The Journal describes two philosophical pulls within the company; one, to focus on its longstanding goal of reaching artificial general intelligence (AGI), and the other to retain and gain user engagement.
The piece points to how the current approach to prioritize user engagement previously prompted safety concerns.
Sam Altman’s Sprint to Correct OpenAI’s Direction and Fend Off Google | THE WALL STREET JOURNAL | December 8, 2025 | By Sam Schechner, Berber Jin, and Keach Hagey