OpenAI’s new Chief Revenue Officer, Densie Dresser, believes that the AI market is for them to claim — at least that’s what a leaked memo written by her suggests. In the internal memo, the employees were addressed on certain concerns, including the role of Anthropic in the AI space and the limits imposed by infrastructure partner Microsoft. Dresser boldly stated that despite the challenges, OpenAI is on the right path and the market is ‘there’s to take.’
The maker of ChatGPT, which has been lately valued at $852 billion, has been witnessing a lot of competition from the market, including its infrastructure partner Microsoft. OpenAI, however, is changing things to make it all align positively for the AI firm. Dresser has shared her analysis of the current market situation and how OpenAI needs to progress in order to stay on top of the game.
Anthropic’s approach is ‘fear-based’
The leaked memo, originally shared by The Verge, takes direct aim at Anthropic, the company that makes Claude AI. Dresser described Anthropic’s approach as “fear-based,” claiming it relies on “fear, restriction, and the idea that a small group of elites should control AI.” She accused the Dario Amodei-led company created a critical strategic error by failing to secure sufficient computing power, which she said is now evident in its product performance.
“Their story is built on fear, restriction, and the idea that a small group of elites should control AI. Our positive message will win over time: build powerful systems, put in the right safeguards, expand access, and help people do more,” reads the leaked memo.
In contrast, she expressed strong confidence that OpenAI’s “positive message” would ultimately prevail over Anthropic’s restrictive narrative in the AI space.
Dresser also questioned Anthropic’s reported $30 billion annual run-rate, suggesting it is inflated by approximately $8 billion due to aggressive accounting practices, including grossing up revenue shares with Amazon and Google.
Microsoft has been foundational but limiting
Dresser also commented on OpenAI’s deep ties with Microsoft, which is currently its largest investor and primary cloud provider. While acknowledging that the partnership has been “foundational” to OpenAI’s success, she admitted it has also limited the company’s ability to serve enterprises that prefer Amazon’s Bedrock service.
“Our Microsoft partnership has been foundational to our success. But it has also limited our ability to meet enterprises where they are – for many that’s Bedrock,” said Dresser.
In the memo, it is highlighted that there is a growing demand for OpenAI models on Amazon Web Services (AWS) after a strategic partnership that was announced in February. Dresser described the inbound interest from enterprises as “staggering.”
OpenAI has been actively diversifying its cloud infrastructure, adding partners such as CoreWeave, Google, and Oracle, especially as Microsoft increasingly treats the startup as a direct competitor to its enterprise AI services.
The memo also stresses the need for OpenAI to evolve into a multi-product brand to prevent users from switching to rivals.
The leak comes at a crucial moment in the AI space as both OpenAI (valued at $852 billion) and Anthropic ($350 billion) gear up for potential initial public offerings later this year. OpenAI currently reports an annual run-rate of $25 billion.
Although OpenAI hasn’t commented on the leaked memo officially, it seems that the OpenAI senior management is confident of its dominance in the space despite the recent rise of rivals like Anthropic and Google. The AI firm let go of its ambitions in consumer-centric products like the Sora video app (which saw a broken deal with Disney) and plans to introduce advertisements.