Key Points:
- OpenAI launched “Frontier” to help companies build and manage AI agents.
- The service targets the enterprise market, currently dominated by rival Anthropic.
- Tensions rose after Anthropic mocked OpenAI in a Super Bowl commercial.
- Frontier integrates with existing business software to speed up adoption.
Your next coworker might be software. On Thursday, OpenAI officially launched “Frontier,” a new service dedicated to building and managing AI agents for businesses. Unlike a standard chatbot that just answers questions, these agents act as digital employees capable of finishing specific tasks, such as repairing broken code, analyzing sales data, or handling customer support tickets.
This move signals a major shift in strategy. OpenAI is aggressively targeting the enterprise market, a sector currently led by its main rival, Anthropic. While OpenAI grabbed headlines with consumer tools like ChatGPT, Anthropic focused heavily on serving corporate clients. Now, OpenAI wants those contracts.
CEO Sam Altman stated last year that business growth is a massive priority, and Frontier is the result of that push.
The battle between the two companies is getting personal. Both are racing toward the stock market with upcoming public offerings, fighting for the same investor cash. The competition has even spilled over into the Super Bowl. Anthropic bought ad space to mock OpenAI for putting advertisements inside ChatGPT. The jab hit a nerve; Altman went on X on Wednesday to call the commercial “clearly dishonest,” though he admitted it was funny.
OpenAI hopes to win this fight by being the easiest option to install. Fidji Simo, the startup’s CEO of applications, noted that Frontier integrates seamlessly with the infrastructure companies already use. It also works with agents built by third-party developers, rather than forcing companies to use only OpenAI’s tools.
Simo describes this as building an “intelligence layer” over existing systems. By making the technology simple to adopt without requiring a total overhaul, OpenAI aims to become the standard engine for corporate work.
