At this week's HumanX AI conference in San Francisco, one name resounded louder than others: Claude. Agents like Claude, which automate business and coding tasks, are becoming a ubiquitous sight across industries. Chatbots like Claude and OpenAI’s ChatGPT were discussed extensively during the week, with many vendors opting for Claude over its competitors.

The contrast in perception between Claude and ChatGPT is stark. One vendor I spoke to emphatically stated that his team favoured Claude due to perceived shortcomings of ChatGPT and OpenAI. This sentiment reflects a broader debate on whether OpenAI has lost its footing, despite recent significant funding rounds and upcoming IPOs.

The controversy surrounding OpenAI’s leadership—particularly CEO Sam Altman—has added to the narrative that the company is increasingly uncertain about its next steps. OpenAI’s recent decision to focus more on business and coding services, coupled with ongoing negative buzz, suggests a reactive rather than strategic approach in some quarters.

Yet, despite these challenges, OpenAI remains neck-and-neck with Anthropic in terms of prominence and revenue, as evidenced by their rapid growth. This week's news of a new $100 subscription tier for ChatGPT is aimed at increasing tool usage and perhaps diverting users from Claude Code.

The technological landscape is rapidly evolving, with agentic coding becoming a major focus area. The speed and scale of AI integration into software engineering have caught many by surprise, highlighting the unpredictable nature of tech advancements in this dynamic field.