OpenAI plans to nearly double its workforce to 8,000 as competition with Anthropic intensifies

OpenAI Plans to Almost Double Its Headcount This Year, FT Says

OpenAI plans to almost double its headcount by the end of 2026 as it seeks to fend off competition from companies such as Anthropic PBC and Alphabet Inc.'s Google, according to the Financial TimesBloomberg Terminal. The maker of AI assistant ChatGPT will look to increase headcount to about 8,000 from about 4,500, the FT said, citing two people with direct knowledge of the matter whom it didn't identify. The new hires will largely work across product development, engineering, research and sales, according to the report. OpenAI has taken new office space in San Francisco to accommodate its growing staff count, taking its footprint in the city to more than 1 million square feet, the newspaper added. OpenAI didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. The hiring plans come amid a race with competitors including Anthropic and Microsoft Corp. to woo corporate customers using AI as coding assistants. Firms like OpenAI have unveiled a number of AI models that can take on increasingly complicated tasks -- from analyzing company earnings reports to writing code and generating startlingly realistic-looking images and videos. Last week, OpenAI revealed plans to acquire Astral, a startup that makes Python tools for developers. Earlier in March, it agreed to buy AI security startup Promptfoo, adding tools to test and secure AI agents before deployment, Last year, it bought startups including Software Applications Inc. and Neptune. The firm is also in advanced discussions to form a joint venture with private equity firms, including TPG Inc., Brookfield Asset Management and Bain Capital, that would focus on bolstering adoption of its AI software, Bloomberg reported.

OpenAI to double workforce as business push intensifies

OpenAI plans to almost double its headcount by the end of the year as it accelerates a push to sell to businesses and gain ground on rival Anthropic in a race for a market worth hundreds of billions of dollars. The $730bn start-up was aiming to grow to about 8,000 employees from about 4,500 today, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter. The new hires will largely work across product development, engineering, research and sales. OpenAI would also step up recruitment of specialists to focus on what the company calls "technical ambassadorship", helping businesses make better use of its tools, according to the people. OpenAI has signed a new lease on a San Francisco office, taking its footprint in the city to over 1mn sq ft as it prepares to grow by about 12 employees a day this year. The recruitment drive forms part of a strategic overhaul at the AI group, as it seeks to arrest Anthropic's momentum with business customers and fend off rising competition from Google. Business customers purchasing AI for the first time are choosing Anthropic at three times the rate of OpenAI, according to data from payments start-up Ramp, a reverse of the companies' positions a year ago. Late last year, chief executive Sam Altman issued a "code red", telling employees to refocus on its core product, ChatGPT. Earlier this month, Fidji Simo, who runs OpenAI's applications business, urged staff to ditch "side quests" and instead focus on improving the company's coding model Codex, winning over business customers and transforming ChatGPT into a productivity tool. Simo is also overseeing the bundling of Codex and ChatGPT into a single desktop app which can be sold to consumers and businesses, a move which was first reported by The Wall Street Journal. OpenAI is also in talks with private equity firms to launch a joint venture which would deploy the start-up's products in the PE groups' portfolio companies. Both OpenAI and Anthropic are lossmaking, spending billions of dollars more than they earn to train AI models which continue to advance the frontier of the technology. They are seeking to cut costs, boost revenues and become profitable, with pressure growing on that effort as the pair gear up for public listings as early as this year. This has led to AI groups going on a hiring spree for so-called forward-deployed engineers as part of a push to generate more revenues by installing specialists within businesses to help them customise their AI models -- an approach pioneered by data intelligence company Palantir. Anthropic has largely focused on selling its model Claude to business customers since it was launched in 2023, while OpenAI has taken what one investor described as an "everything, everywhere, all at once" approach. ChatGPT has been the most successful consumer application of AI since its launch in 2023, but more than 90 per cent of the more than 900mn people regularly engaging with the chatbot do not pay OpenAI. As well as exploring ways to monetise its vast user base, such as advertising, OpenAI has pursued video models, enterprise tools and robotics and other hardware devices. Anthropic, founded by ex-OpenAI researchers in 2021, has instead targeted businesses. That strategy has taken off since the launch of its coding tool Claude Code, with the company adding $1bn in annualised revenue each week this year. OpenAI is shifting resources to the enterprise market as well as trying to bulk up the number of paying consumers. By year-end, it anticipates half of its revenue coming from business customers, up from about 40 per cent today. The new focus reflects the success of coding tools such as Claude Code and Codex, which have "opened up with entirely new lanes of things we can do", said an executive at OpenAI. "It does change how you think about everything from your products to how you serve the market," they added. Similar to the release of ChatGPT or reasoning models, the unexpected traction of coding models with businesses meant that "all of a sudden, the company kind of rotated on its axis". But changing lanes in such a fast-moving market carries risks, said one investor in OpenAI. With Google fiercely competing for chatbot users, and Anthropic ensconced with businesses, OpenAI risked being left "in no man's land", they said. Additional reporting by Cristina Criddle

OpenAI to nearly double workforce to 8,000 by end-2026, FT reports

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman attends an event to pitch AI for businesses in Tokyo, Feb. 3, 2025. Artificial intelligence start-up OpenAI plans to nearly double its workforce to 8,000 from 4,500 by the end of 2026, the Financial Times reported on Saturday, citing two people with knowledge of the matter. Reuters could not immediately verify the report. OpenAI did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment. OpenAI plans to deploy most of the new hires across product development, engineering, research and sales, the FT said. The ChatGPT-maker is also ramping up recruitment of specialists focused on "technical ambassadorship," aimed at helping businesses make better use of its tools, the report added. The company's latest funding round valued it at $840 billion as Big Tech and Masayoshi Son's Softbank joined its blockbuster $110 billion round.

OpenAI reportedly plans to double its workforce to 8,000 employees

While other tech companies have been laying off employees year after year, OpenAI is doing the opposite. According to a report from the Financial Times, the AI giant is looking to expand its workforce to 8,000 employees by the end of 2026, nearly doubling staff from its current headcount of 4,500. The FT reported that the new hires will be across several departments, including product development, engineering, research and sales. OpenAI's hiring spree will also include "specialists" for "technical ambassadorship," or employees tasked with helping businesses better utilize its AI tools, according to the report. As the FT noted, OpenAI is likely trying to amp up the competition against Anthropic and its Claude AI chatbot. According to the AI Index from Ramp, a fintech startup that manages corporate expenses, businesses are now 70 percent more likely to go with Anthropic when buying AI services for the first time as opposed to OpenAI. OpenAI made waves in February when it announced a contract with the Department of Defense to use its AI models, following a public fallout between Anthropic and the federal agency. On top of the government contract, OpenAI is also in "advanced talks" with private equity firms like Brookfield Asset Management to deploy its AI tools across a firms' portfolio of companies, according to Reuters.

OpenAI to nearly double workforce to 8,000 by end-2026: FT - The Economic Times

OpenAI plans to ⁠deploy most of the new hires across product development, engineering, research and ⁠sales, the FT said. The ChatGPT-maker is also ramping up recruitment of specialists focused on "technical ambassadorship," aimed at helping businesses make better use of its tools, the report added. Artificial intelligence start-up OpenAI plans to nearly double its workforce to 8,000 from 4,500 by the end of 2026, the Financial Times ⁠reported ⁠on Saturday, citing two people with knowledge of the matter. Reuters could not immediately verify the report. OpenAI did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment. OpenAI plans to ⁠deploy most of the new hires across product development, engineering, research and ⁠sales, the FT said. The ChatGPT-maker is also ramping up recruitment of specialists focused on "technical ambassadorship," aimed at helping businesses make better use of its tools, the report added. The company's latest funding round valued it at $840 billion,as Big Tech and Masayoshi Son's Softbank joined its blockbuster $110 billion round. OpenAI ⁠CEO Sam Altman reportedly issued an internal "code red" in early December last year, pausing non-core projects and redirecting teams to accelerate development in response to Google's Gemini 3.

OpenAI to double headcount to 8,000 in enterprise push, FT reports By Investing.com

Investing.com - OpenAI plans to nearly double its workforce to about 8,000 employees by the end of the year as it accelerates efforts to expand in the enterprise market and compete with rival Anthropic, the Financial Times reported, citing sources. The hiring drive, up from around 4,500 staff currently, will focus on product development, engineering, research and sales, alongside roles aimed at helping businesses better deploy its AI tools. The move comes as OpenAI seeks to regain momentum with corporate customers, where Anthropic has recently gained ground, with new buyers reportedly choosing its offerings at a higher rate. OpenAI is also streamlining its product strategy, including bundling its Codex coding model with ChatGPT into a unified platform, as it looks to boost adoption among both businesses and paying users, the report said.