OpenAI vs The Magnificent Seven Inside Silicon Valley’s New War for AI Supremacy

In a recent episode of the Uncapped podcast, Vince Hankes a partner at Thrive Capital painted a striking image he said OpenAI is cornered, with every Big Tech firm pointing a bazooka at it. That phrase captures how the industry sees AI today not as a friendly frontier, but as a battleground

Hankes argued that every major player Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Meta, Tesla, Nvidia (what he calls the “Mag Seven”) fears a new titan arising in artificial intelligence. None of them want to hand over room for someone else to dominate. Yet his firm still backs OpenAI. To Hankes, it’s among the most attractive investments when adjusting for risk That sounds contradictory: supporting a firm that every giant sees as a threat. But Hankes says that’s exactly why it’s compelling the upside is extraordinary if OpenAI succeeds. At the same time, he cautions that one must spread bets; no smart investor puts all capital into one horse OpenAI’s recent moves help explain its elevated profile. At its DevDay event, it revealed a system for embedding apps directly in ChatGPT and released a development kit so third parties can build their own extensions. It’s a pivot from being a tool to becoming a platform something that directly challenges app stores and ecosystems controlled by Apple and Google. Google’s core business (search and ad revenue) already feels the pressure of generative AI

To support its scaling, OpenAI struck a multi-year agreement with AMD to use energy-intensive chips at a massive scale. That move came on the heels of its dealings with Nvidia, which committed billions in infrastructure support. And next year, OpenAI plans to develop its own AI chip in partnership with Broadcom, aiming for greater control over its hardware stack From a journalist’s standpoint, two things stand out. First: the existential framing is real. This is no longer a niche startup domain. OpenAI is pushing into domains that touch everything from consumer software to cloud infrastructure. The stakes are now political, technical, and moral. Second: open questions remain. Can OpenAI really compete on chip design? Will it successfully build an ecosystem without becoming dependent on its rivals? And how will regulators treat a company that sits at the crossroads of data, compute, and user interface?

Let me give you a parallel When Amazon launched AWS, it didn’t just sell storage it redefined infrastructural power in tech AWS became a foundation other companies built on. OpenAI is trying something like that, but with AI models and app ecosystems. If it pulls that off, its place among Big Tech is almost inevitable. If it fails due to cost, regulation, or technical missteps it’ll be a cautionary tale of ambition unmet this is one of the most significant moments in the tech industry right now. We are watching a new power struggle forming. Whether OpenAI survives under this kind of pressure or becomes a standard-setting giant will help define the tech landscape for a decade. If you want, I can hone this into an op-ed or adapt it for your audience.