"ChatGPT maker OpenAI has been one of the most prolific buyers in the startup space this year. In 2025 alone, the company shelled out $6.4 billion to acquire io, the hardware startup from former Apple designer Jony Ive, as well as $1.1 billion to buy product-development platform Statsig. These deals come as the company has also "acquihired" top talent from startups, including the team behind coding assistant company Alex."
"The 69-year-old investor said OpenAI, Anthropic, Elon Musk's xAI, and Google's Gemini are competing for dominance-and the competition is fierce. She noted, ultimately, the four current competitors could be narrowed down to two. "The number of companies competing, truly competing, in the Large Language Model space has shrunk," she told . The recent "acquihires" conducted by OpenAI and Meta, which is not in Wood's big four, are also examples of the AI space getting smaller, and of "other companies not making it," she said."
OpenAI, Anthropic, Elon Musk's xAI, and Google's Gemini currently dominate the Large Language Model market, with intense competition that could consolidate to two leaders. The number of companies truly competing in the LLM space has shrunk and consolidation has begun. OpenAI completed major 2025 acquisitions, spending $6.4 billion on io and $1.1 billion on Statsig, and has acquihired startup teams including the creators of Alex. Meta invested about $14.3 billion for a 49% stake in Scale AI and appointed Alexandr Wang as chief AI officer. ARK Innovation ETF has risen 47% year-to-date, helped by top holdings.
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