OpenAI's head of go-to-market for startups in the EMEA region, Tricia Troth, stated that the company acts as a catalyst for European startups despite the "tension" caused by OpenAI launching rival products. Responding to a question about shifting from selling model access to owning applications, Troth emphasized that they aim to work more closely with the companies experiencing this tension rather than alienating them. Swedish legaltech startup Legora was highlighted as an example, co-developing a legal plug-in with OpenAI even after the launch of OpenAI's dedicated legal offering, Astra for Law. Experts note that shifting focus by companies like OpenAI and Anthropic could create a growing competitive landscape for European AI application layer startups.
Speaking at OpenAI Developer Day in London, Troth noted that the startups most interesting to them are those building AI natively into their products and services. OpenAI's startup team, consisting of former founders and venture capitalists, reportedly provides support to various startups, ranging from the pre-funding stage to scaleups, in areas such as engineering, model fine-tuning, marketing, and customer acquisition.
It was also noted that OpenAI runs partnership programs with several venture capital firms, accelerators, incubators, and academic institutions to support and invest in promising projects. The event showcased new capabilities for the engineering agent Codex, alongside Dots, a new AI assistant capable of carrying out tasks proactively, and featured sessions from startups such as Lovable, Synthesia, and Granola.