OpenAI Plans To Double Its Workforce, Eyes 8,000 Employees By End Of 2026 Amid Rising AI Competition

OpenAI -- a parent of ChatGPT -- plans to nearly double its workforce to around 8,000 employees by the end of the year as it accelerates its push into the enterprise market and seeks to regain ground from rival Anthropic, according to a report.

According to Financial Times, the AI company currently has about 4,500 employees and is ramping up hiring across product development, engineering, research and sales, along with specialised roles to help businesses deploy its AI tools more effectively.

As part of its expansion, OpenAI has leased additional office space in San Francisco, taking its footprint in the city to more than one million square feet, with plans to add nearly a dozen employees a day this year, it said.

The report also noted that the hiring drive comes amid intensifying competition in the artificial intelligence sector, particularly in the enterprise segment where Anthropic has recently gained traction.

Data from payments firm Ramp suggests that new business customers are choosing Anthropic’s offerings at a significantly higher rate than OpenAI, marking a shift from last year’s trend, according to the report.

In response, OpenAI is undertaking a strategic reset to strengthen its core offerings.

OpenAI Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman has urged teams to refocus on flagship products, especially its chatbot ChatGPT, while improving its coding model Codex.

The company is also working on integrating Codex with ChatGPT into a unified platform aimed at both enterprise users and consumers, a move expected to enhance usability and drive adoption.

OpenAI is further exploring partnerships with private equity firms to deploy its AI tools across portfolio companies, signalling a deeper push into business applications.

The report also highlighted that despite rapid growth, both OpenAI and Anthropic remain loss-making, investing heavily in training advanced AI models.

The companies are now under pressure to increase revenues and move towards profitability, with potential public listings being considered in the near term.