ai founders scramble as openai, anthropic, google reshape roadmap
founders now compete with foundation model companies introducing new capabilities every few months, changing strategic decisions. this affects ai startups and their valuations.
the biggest competitive threat to ai startups is no longer another startup, but the platform they are building on. with major releases from openai, anthropic, and google, founders must consider if their product will become part of the platform. this changes strategic decisions on what products to build, where to differentiate, and how to raise capital. a session at techcrunch disrupt 2026 will discuss this challenge, featuring leaders from airbyte, radical ventures, and webflow. founders are examining where defensibility still exists and how to respond when ai giants move into adjacent markets.