ClosedAI

I predict Sam will rename his company to ClosedAI. Alternatively, some better sounding equivalent.

I was watching a Sundar Pichai interview following the Google I/O conference where he said something that struck me:

“I think more than any other company, we [Google] prioritize sending traffic to the web. No one sends traffic to the web in the way we do. I look at other companies, newer emerging companies, where they openly talk about it as something they’re not going to do. We are the only ones who make it a high priority, agonize, and so on. We’ll engage, and we’ve always engaged.”

What stuck out to me is how authentic, how true, and how powerful that position is.

Google’s saying they are the champions of the open web and open source. The proof is in their release history: Android, Chromium, TensorFlow, Kubernetes, etc. It’s obvious when you sit back and consider the root of their DNA: the dominant search engine orchestrates and routes traffic across the open web; a thriving open web is good for Google.

This is really great branding especially coming from a fast follower and category laggard. Who doesn’t like open? Open is great! Sam named his company Open for a reason.

Google will iterate on and refine this message. It’s really strong branding. The message will appeal to developers and to publishers and, superficially, to users. More open is preferable for developers and publishers, and open sounds good on a superficial level to end users.

This contrasts with OpenAI’s (ironically) closed approach. OpenAI is constantly expanding its surface area and encroaching on developers’ and customers’ turf with their releases. OpenAI wants to be go to resource for humans in an AI world. Sam has explicitly said he wants to avoid opening the platform to advertizing for as long as possible. OpenAI wants to be closed, secure, personal, and focused on the needs of its end users.

OpenAI is really happy to be closed. Heck, OpenAI acquihired Jony Ive, the design mastermind behind Steve Jobs’ Apple renaissance. An ardent and leading advocate for “walled gardens.”

OpenAI’s looking at Apple, not Google. OpenAI wants to serve their customer’s interests, and it wants to do it providing a premium experience sold at a premium price. OpenAI is looking at an opportunity to build a $2-10tn company and it’ll do it following Apple’s brand playbook.

Closed sounds bad and open sounds good. But if you tell the story and expl;ain the underlying principles to closed, they sound good when you’re selling to end consumers: an experience made for your customer with their interests put first, a duty to protect your customers, and an elegant and delightful solution to their problems.

Google will learn how to tell their story, and Google’s positioning around open will continue to grow stronger and gnaw at OpenAI’s brand with their partner ecosystem and in the press. The cognitive dissonance of “OpenAI” is simply too easy and too powerful. In the meanwhile OpenAI will continue to remain heads down focused on building out their platform and their experience. And they’ll build up their cache as a customer centric company all the while.

Until one day, Sam will pull the masterstroke PR moment when he renames the company to ClosedAI. It will be accompanied with some excellent storytelling about how Closed is better: it’s what you really want, and it keeps you safe. It will retake the press narrative and solidify Sam message to the marketplace:

OpenAI is the new Apple.