Overview

• Meta has lured several key OpenAI researchers with multimillion-dollar offers, prompting Sam Altman to rally remaining staff under the slogan “missionaries will beat mercenaries.”
• Investors are increasingly skeptical as questions emerge over ChatGPT’s ability to scale reliably and sustain performance under high demand.
• Sam Altman’s pledge to surpass Google Search and Apple’s iPhone with ChatGPT now hinges on delivering against ambitious growth and revenue projections.
• OpenAI’s early branding decisions, including the last-minute switch to the name “ChatGPT,” remain one of its few uncontested strengths and underscore the power of viral identity.
• Emerging competitors—from Meta AI and Google’s Gemini to European AI regulations and Chinese open-source models—are intensifying strategic risks for OpenAI’s expansion.