O'Driscoll: OpenAI and Anthropic No Longer Need Microsoft or Amazon
Rory O’Driscoll · Opendoor CEO, Kaz Nejatian: OpenAI and Oracle, How Can Either Afford to Do This · 20VC with Harry Stebbings · Sep 18, 2025 · at 49:41
Rory O'Driscoll (General Partner at Scale Venture Partners) discusses the growing strategic independence of AI startups OpenAI and Anthropic from their early corporate backers Microsoft and Amazon.
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“In both these cases, the small company won. They got the money, they got the critical mass, they got the credibility, and now they've pulled away. And neither on top of now open AI needs Microsoft or Amazon at this point. They don't need them for money. They don't need it for, because the industry will give them infinite money. They don't need it for compute, because Larry will give them infinite compute in return for money. They made, they don't even need it for distribution.”
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