By TOI Tech Desk
Publication Date: 2025-11-16 12:24:00
ChatGPT maker OpenAI was voted the second most likely “billion-dollar AI startup” to fail in an informal survey at the Cerebral Valley AI Conference. The result offers an unexpected perspective on a company often regarded as a major player in AI. The survey asked founders and investors which AI startup they would be willing to bet against, a question not typically raised so openly in Silicon Valley. Search startup Perplexity received the most votes, followed by OpenAI. Meanwhile, when the audience was asked whether they could invest in any private technology company, most people voted for the Claude maker Anthropic, while OpenAI took second place. According to a Business Insider report, independent journalist Eric Newcomer conducted the survey, gathering responses from more than 300 attendees before panels featuring other major AI companies, such as Anthropic and xAI. This shows that some industry professionals are becoming more cautious about the success of AI startups. Even with a lot of money going into AI, there is now some doubt about how well certain big companies in the field will do.
Why AI professionals are thinking that OpenAI may turn out to be a ‘flop’
OpenAI taking second place on the list may seem unexpected because it is often viewed as a consumer-focused leader in the AI space. However, its rapidly rising valuation and significant infrastructure costs have raised concerns for some investors. Even though Sam Altman has…
