OpenAI tells investor to not invest in five AI startups including Sutskever’s SSI

By Anna Tong, Kenrick Cai and Krystal Hu

(Reuters) – As global investors such as Thrive Capital and Tiger Global invest $6.6 billion in OpenAI, the ChatGPT-maker sought a commitment beyond just capital — they also wanted investors to refrain from funding five companies they perceive as close competitors, sources told Reuters.

The list of companies includes rivals developing large language models such as Anthropic and Elon Musk’s xAI. OpenAI’s co-founder Ilya Sutskever’s new company, Safe Superintelligence (SSI), is also on the list. These companies are racing against OpenAI to build large language models, commanding billions in funding.

Two AI applications firms, including AI search startup Perplexity and enterprise search firm Glean, were also named in OpenAI’s conversation with investors, suggesting OpenAI plans to sell more of its tools to enterprises and end users to grow revenue streams.

OpenAI, Perplexity and SSI declined to comment. Anthropic and Glean did not immediately respond. XAI could not be reached for a comment.

The Financial Times and Wall Street Journal first reported some of the companies on the list.