Microsoft Inc is not Google’s most serious rival, it’s an AI startup

The AI boom of the past two years has largely been a two-horse race. Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Microsoft Corp.-funded OpenAI have duked it out for customers, while Amazon.com Inc. and Meta Platforms Inc. have nibbled at the margins for market share. All told, the boom has consolidated wealth and power among tech’s six biggest companies, raising their market valuations by $8 trillion since ChatGPT’s launch two years ago. But at least one new company has emerged as an outsider with a chance of challenging their oligopoly.