OpenAI? Some Alternatives to Watch

Here, we summarise a selection of top AI companies to watch in 2024 who may continue to challenge the current market segment leader, OpenAI.

In the dynamic world of AI, staying abreast of the leaders is crucial. In 2023, significant players emerged while established names faced challenges.

As we enter 2024, a year set for more technological advancements, certain AI firms are poised to shine. These companies not only offer groundbreaking solutions but also contribute to a smarter future. Investor interest is surging in all things AI, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that artificial intelligence (AI) start-ups are also popping up on investors' radars. With the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022, the potential for AI has crystallised across the business world and among investors, and the implications for the new technology are vast.

AI Business presents its top seven emerging AI companies for 2024. Our selection criteria are rigorous: they must have notable backing from venture capitalists, angel investors, or top-tier companies; they should have operated for at least two years, and their management teams must boast experience from esteemed institutions.

Anthropic

Founded in 2021 by siblings Dario and Daniela Amodei, both alumni of OpenAI, Anthropic specializes in developing cutting-edge AI systems focused on safety, reliability, and interpretability. Considered a formidable competitor to OpenAI, Anthropic's Claude family of large language models, such as ChatGPT, is gaining recognition. CEO Dario Amodei's involvement in AI leadership meetings with prominent figures like President Biden and U.K. Prime Minister Rushi Sunak underscores the company's influence.

Investors: Google, Amazon, Salesforce, Zoom, and others.

Management: CEO Dario Amodei was previously OpenAI's vice president of research, while Daniela Amodei, as Anthropic's president, brings experience as OpenAI's former vice president of safety and policy.

Cohere

Founded in 2019, Cohere focuses on building large language models for enterprise applications. With clients like Spotify, Glean, and Oracle, Cohere competes with OpenAI and offers its platform for integration, including through a partnership with McKinsey. Geoffrey Hinton, a Turing award winner and investor in Cohere, praises the company's role in enhancing natural language understanding.

Investors: Oracle, Salesforce, Nvidia, Geoffrey Hinton, Fei-Fei Li, Index Ventures.

Management: Founders Aidan Gomez and Nick Frosst were researchers at Google Brain.

AI21 Labs

Founded in 2017, AI21 Labs develops large language models, notably the Jurassic family, powering its NLP-as-a-service platform, AI21 Studio. The company collaborates with AWS, Google Cloud, and others to enhance its technology. Notable clients include Capgemini, Samsung, and Ubisoft.

Investors: Nvidia, Google, Intel Capital, Comcast Ventures, Samsung Next.

Management: Founder and co-CEO Yoav Shoham has a history of successful ventures, including selling companies to Google, while co-CEO Ori Goshen brings entrepreneurial experience.

Hugging Face

Established in 2016, Hugging Face gained prominence in 2023 by hosting popular open-source AI models and partnering with industry giants like Dell and AWS. The company offers a repository for open-source AI systems.

Investors: Salesforce, Google, Amazon, Nvidia, Intel, Qualcomm, IBM.

Management: Co-founder and CEO Clément Delangue has a background in eBay, and CTO Julien Chaumond has experience with Infosys and Stanford.

Aleph Alpha

Founded in 2019, Aleph Alpha develops large language models like Luminous for enterprise and government use, focusing on sovereignty in AI applications.

Investors: Bosch Ventures, HPE, SAP, Schwarz Group.

Management: CEO Jonas Andrulis brings experience from Apple, while tech VP Samuel Weinbach was previously at Deloitte.

Scale AI

Founded in 2016, Scale AI assists enterprises in training and labeling AI software. It collaborates with major players like OpenAI, Meta, Microsoft, Toyota, and General Motors.

Investors: Y Combinator, Founders Fund, Accel, Index Ventures, Tiger Global Management, Quora co-founder Adam D'Angelo, Dropbox co-founder Drew Houston.

Management: CEO Alexandr Wang's background includes work at Quora, while field CTO Vijay Karunamurthy has experience at Apple.

Tenstorrent

Established in 2016, Tenstorrent provides AI processors and CPU intellectual property, catering to customers seeking customisable silicon for AI workloads.

Investors: Samsung Catalyst Fund, Hyundai Motor Group, Kia Motors, Fidelity Ventures, Maverick Capital.

Management: CEO Jim Keller is a renowned chip engineer with a history of significant contributions to AMD and Apple's processor designs.