Layer·Domains·Foundation models
The companies building the core AI models. The performance gap is narrowing, so reliability, access, and rollout terms now matter more in practice.
- OpenAIThree voice API models shipped. See Developer tooling.
- AnthropicFinance agents shipped inside Microsoft Office; Mozilla published Firefox Mythos results. See Distribution.
- Meta AIMuse Spark launched at frontier reasoning tier; four-generation MTIA roadmap with Broadcom published. See Cloud & compute.
- DeepSeekV4 shipped with million-token context; state-backed first round at up to $45B. See Foundation models.
- MistralMedium 3.5 released open-weight; Vibe remote agents shipped. See Developer tooling.
- SpaceXAI$55B Terafab plan filed; Grok Connectors launched. See Cloud & compute and Distribution.
OpenAI
● MovedThree voice API models shipped. See Developer tooling.· 4 eventsBuilds GPT-4o, o3, o4-mini. Distributes through API and partner channels including Azure and AWS Bedrock. Enterprise channel influence is its primary leverage point.
API-firstDistribution
OpenAI
● MovedCold read
OpenAI builds GPT-4o, o3, and o4-mini and distributes them through its own API and partner channels including Azure and Amazon Bedrock. The company is structured as a for-profit entity controlled by a nonprofit parent and is headquartered in San Francisco.
Position read
Runs three distribution tracks in parallel: the direct API, Azure/Bedrock channel, and the DeployCo JV with TPG. Shipped three voice API models on May 8, expanding the real-time API surface alongside Anthropic's Office finance agents on the same day — each lab deepening a different runtime in the same cycle.
Anthropic
● MovedFinance agents shipped inside Microsoft Office; Mozilla published Firefox Mythos results. See Distribution.· 4 eventsBuilds the Claude family (Claude 3.x, Opus 4.7). API delivery aligned with AWS and Google Cloud enterprise lanes. Focus on safety controls and deployment policy.
API-first
Anthropic
● MovedCold read
Anthropic builds Claude, a foundation model family used in enterprise and developer products. The company is funded primarily by Amazon and Google and operates as a US-based AI lab.
Position read
Builds the Claude family with inference now routed through SpaceXAI's Colossus 1 — 300MW and 220,000 NVIDIA GPUs operated by a rival. Shipped ten finance agent templates running natively inside Microsoft Office on May 8. Mozilla credits Mythos with a 13x year-over-year jump in Firefox vulnerability fixes — giving Claude Security a public third-party deployment. Safety posture, enterprise JV, rival-operated compute, and now a product embedded in the world's most common office suite are all running at once.
Meta AI
● MovedMuse Spark launched at frontier reasoning tier; four-generation MTIA roadmap with Broadcom published. See Cloud & compute.· 2 eventsBuilds Llama (open-weight) and now Muse Spark (frontier reasoning) under Meta Superintelligence Labs. The MTIA silicon program with Broadcom runs four chip generations through 2027. Open-weight releases shape the baseline; Muse Spark competes at the frontier reasoning tier.
Open-weight
Meta AI
● MovedCold read
Meta AI builds the Llama open-weight model family and Muse Spark, a frontier reasoning model from Meta Superintelligence Labs. Meta is a publicly traded US company; the AI division operates as a product and research unit within the broader business.
Position read
Launched Muse Spark on May 8 — a multimodal reasoning model scoring 58% on Humanity's Last Exam, matching the frontier tier held by GPT Pro and Gemini Deep Think. Published a four-generation MTIA silicon roadmap with Broadcom on the same day. Meta now has a frontier model, a published multi-year silicon program, and the most widely deployed open-weight model family all running in parallel.
DeepSeek
● MovedV4 shipped with million-token context; state-backed first round at up to $45B. See Foundation models.· 2 eventsBuilds open-weight frontier models with non-NVIDIA hardware targeting. V4 ships million-token context, hybrid attention, and a new RL sandbox. China's state semiconductor fund is in talks to lead a first VC round at up to $45 billion.
Open-weight
DeepSeek
● MovedCold read
DeepSeek is a Chinese AI lab that builds and releases open-weight frontier models. It is backed by the quantitative trading firm High-Flyer and is approaching its first institutional funding round.
Position read
Ships V4 with million-token context and a new RL sandbox, backed by a state semiconductor fund entering at $45B. No longer dependent on a single founder's balance sheet — this is open-weight frontier work entering a sustained-capital phase. Hugging Face Hub download share for Chinese model lineages reached 41% this cycle.
Mistral
● MovedMedium 3.5 released open-weight; Vibe remote agents shipped. See Developer tooling.Builds efficient open and commercial models. Positioned as the European frontier lab with a strong open-weight distribution strategy. Medium 3.5 runs on four GPUs under a modified MIT license.
Open-weight
Mistral
● MovedCold read
Mistral is a Paris-based AI lab that builds open-weight and commercial models. It is venture-backed and publishes its models for download and through major cloud providers.
Position read
Released Medium 3.5 on May 8 — a 128B open-weight model with 256k context and 77.6% on SWE-Bench Verified, runnable on four GPUs under a modified MIT license. For small teams that want a strong coding model on their own hardware without hyperscaler budgets, this is the lowest barrier-to-entry frontier-adjacent option shipped this cycle.
SpaceXAI
● Moved$55B Terafab plan filed; Grok Connectors launched. See Cloud & compute and Distribution.Builds Grok. Distributed through X platform and API. Colossus 1 is the compute foundation — rented to Anthropic. SpaceX filed a $55B Terafab chip plant plan in Texas (expandable to $119B, targeting up to 200GW/year). Grok Connectors launched May 8, opening third-party app integrations.
API-firstInfrastructure
SpaceXAI
● MovedCold read
SpaceXAI (formerly xAI) builds Grok, a foundation model distributed through the X platform and a developer API. It is a wholly owned unit of SpaceX following a corporate dissolution of xAI on May 6, 2026.
Position read
Compute landlord, chip plant filer, and model distributor simultaneously. Terafab — a $55B Texas chip plant with Tesla and Intel, expandable to $119B — is the biggest single infrastructure commitment disclosed this cycle. Grok Connectors launched, opening third-party app integrations for the first time. Colossus 1 rents to Anthropic while the Grok enterprise channel remains thin.
Google DeepMind
Builds the Gemini family (2.x, 3.x). Distributed through Google Cloud Vertex AI and consumer surfaces. TPU hardware advantage directly shapes training economics.
PlatformInfrastructure
Google DeepMind
Cold read
Google DeepMind builds Gemini, a foundation model family available through the Gemini API and Google Cloud Vertex AI. It is a division of Alphabet and has access to Google's proprietary TPU accelerator fleet.
Position read
Keeps a frontier claim active through preview-cadence drops rather than headline launches: Gemini 3.1 Pro, 3 Flash, and 3.1 Flash-Lite appeared in API docs as previews last cycle. Teams adopting Gemini through Vertex AI often end up deeper into Google's stack than they planned — BigQuery, Workspace, and Cloud Storage integrations compound the dependency quickly.