Google, xAI and OpenAI Will Be Hard for Startups to Beat, Investors Say

A crop of new artificial intelligence startups, including those founded by star ex-OpenAI executives, is trying to convince investors to invest at multibillion-dollar valuations with scant products or revenue to speak of. But representatives from two investors, Fidelity and Atreides Management, say it may be too late for those firms to overcome the first movers in the field.

That’s because incumbents like Elon Musk’s xAI and Google have a trifecta of established AI models, a large number of users to supply new data, and supercomputers that will enable them to keep improving their product and growing their revenue, according to Atreides Managing Partner Gavin Baker. He was speaking alongside Fidelity’s private equity investments global head, Karin Fronczke, at The Information’s Financing the AI Revolution event in New York on Monday. Fronczke added that she believes OpenAI, which Fidelity has invested in, has a similar incumbent advantage.