A leaked internal memo from OpenAI has revealed sharp criticism of rival Anthropic, highlighting growing competition between the two firms.
The memo, written by OpenAI’s Chief Revenue Officer Denise Dresser, questions Anthropic’s business practices, strategy, and financial reporting. Dresser, who recently took over commercial responsibilities from former COO Brad Lightcap, outlined her views in a 4-page internal note shared with employees.
The development comes as both companies are reportedly preparing for potential IPOs later in 2026. Their rivalry has intensified across multiple fronts, including a public standoff at the AI Impact Summit in India earlier this year.
In the memo, Dresser acknowledged Anthropic’s strength in AI coding, stating it gave the company an “early wedge.” However, she cautioned against a narrow focus, adding that “you do not want to be a single-product company in a platform war.”
She also criticised Anthropic’s safety-first positioning, writing that its narrative is “built on fear, restriction, and the idea that a small group of elites should control AI.”
“Our positive message will win over time: build powerful systems, put in the right safeguards, expand access, and help people do more,” Dresser said.
The memo further questioned Anthropic’s financial claims, alleging that its reported $30 billion revenue run rate is “artificially inflated.” Dresser claimed the company may be overstating revenue by around $8 billion through accounting methods that make figures appear larger.
She also pointed to what she described as a “strategic misstep” by Anthropic in not securing sufficient compute infrastructure. According to her, this has given OpenAI an advantage in enterprise performance and reliability.
“Customers feel it through throttling, weaker availability, and a less reliable experience. We saw the exponential compute curve earlier, acted on it faster, and now have a real structural advantage,” she noted.
Dresser also reflected on OpenAI’s own challenges, stating that its partnership with Microsoft, while foundational, has limited flexibility in serving enterprise clients. She highlighted that many customers prefer solutions built on Amazon Web Services infrastructure.
Following OpenAI’s partnership with Amazon announced in February, she noted a surge in demand for AWS-based offerings.
“Since we announced the partnership at the end of February, inbound demand from our customers for this offering has been frankly staggering. We are firing on all cylinders to establish this as a scaled distribution channel,” she added.
The memo underscores intensifying competition in the AI sector, as companies race to scale platforms, secure infrastructure, and capture enterprise demand.
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