OpenAI

OpenAI upended the tech industry with ChatGPT's launch in November 2022 — the fastest product to reach 100 million users in history (2 months vs. Instagram's 2.5 years). The company's latest model, GPT-4o, powers over 200 million weekly active users and thousands of API customers. At a $157B valuation after its 2024 funding round (backed by Microsoft's $13B investment), it is history's most valuable AI startup. CEO Sam Altman's vision for artificial general intelligence (AGI) has made him one of the most influential figures in technology.