Getty Images; Alyssa Powell/BI
Earlier this year, I had a noble idea.For my job, I have to remember a lot of AI companies, so I thought I'd draw up a competition map for my desk. I'd divvy a sheet of paper into columns and list major companies based on which part of the AI supply chain they're in.There were the labs — OpenAI, Anthropic, Google DeepMind, etc. — that are making models and chatbots. There were the AI coding platforms — Cursor, Cognition, and Replit among them — that build coding assistants powered by those models. Then, there were startups building hyper-specific applications: agents that live in your email, help you execute a marketing strategy, or automate boring tasks like payroll.I realized that the map would get messy, fast, because AI companies are ruthlessly invading each other's turf.Ever-increasing valuations mean companies need to find new sources of revenue. Becoming a full-stack AI company is especially important for revenue when models are commoditizing fast and big-ticket IPOs loom. Here's how the landscape is evolving, way too fast for my paper map:More vibe codersCompanies that start with a narrow AI capability — frontier models, AI agents, vibe-coding tools — are quickly expanding into one or more of those other areas.Last year, Anthropic and OpenAI launched Claude Code and Codex, AI coding platforms that rival Cursor and Cognition. Now, per user screenshots on X — Anthropic won't confirm it — the company may be working on an app builder for non-techies, putting it squarely in competition with vibe-coding stars Lovable, Replit, and Emergent.
