These are OpenAI’s strongest competitors right now

OpenAI has stunned the world of techies and investors with its viral artificial intelligence products and its jaw-dropping $10 billion in backing from Microsoft Corp. Now, a growing number of large and small companies are racing to try to overtake the startup in the suddenly hot world of AI services.

“There’s obviously a whole crew of startups that are trying to chase after them — or leapfrog them,” said Guido Appenzeller, a former Intel Corp. AI executive and an Andreessen Horowitz adviser.

AI is a rare bright spot in a contracting, job-cutting tech industry. Generative AI companies — so named for their ability to generate new content from digital troves of text, photos and art — are attracting vast sums of venture capital dollars.