OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Photo by Getty

OpenAI is no longer the only game in town when it comes to selling generative artificial intelligence. That’s beginning to affect the growth of its sales to corporate customers.

Less than a year after OpenAI launched ChatGPT and built a considerable consumer business, several big companies that were also early customers of its AI, such as Salesforce and Wix, say they are using less expensive alternatives. Some of those firms are paying for similar AI from competing providers that claim they can help the firms use AI more cheaply. Other customers are beginning to buy OpenAI’s software through Microsoft because they can bundle the purchase with other products. That’s a problem for OpenAI, as Microsoft keeps much of the OpenAI-related revenue it generates.