OpenAI Is Now Underrated

OpenAI is now underrated Is a vibe-shift coming in 2026? The current AI zeitgeist is clear: Anthropic is hot and OpenAI is not. The narrative makes sense. Anthropic grew Q1 revenue faster than any company in history. They led a revolution in software development with Claude Code and kicked off a similar wave in the enterprise with Cowork. Between their Super Bowl commercials and the press coverage around the DOW fallout, they’ve even gained ground in consumer which was previously unthinkable. OpenAI, meanwhile, has bled senior talent, shared “code red” internal memos, and regularly makes news for circular deals some believe could become a house of cards. But the zeitgeist is a lagging indicator. OpenAI is now being underestimated. Start with the models. GPT-5.4 is, in my experience and among most engineers I talk to, the best model for hard coding work. It’s better at the genuinely difficult problems and better at instruction following. Opus definitely has its place (still the best for frontend), but when the task gets gnarly, GPT tends to win. Then look at the tooling gap. Six months ago, everyone was using either Cursor or Claude Code in the terminal. Today the Codex desktop app is arguably the best agent orchestration tool for developers. It has file viewing, web browsing, and worktree management all built in, plus the best computer use of any provider. I have no doubt Claude Code has million more DAU’s today, but it’s a very different story from a year ago. What’s important to recognize is how much the model advantage has the chance to compound. You can copy a desktop app feature in a sprint, but it takes months to improve a frontier model. Opus still leads on writing and planning, but coding is the heartbeat of these companies, and many developers at the edge are turning to GPT. I love Anthropic and use Claude and Cowork daily. This isn’t a bear case on them. I would buy every penny of Anthropic stock I possibly could. It’s a case that OpenAI is building from a stronger position than the narrative reflects. This year, in the lead up to their IPO, I expect the vibes to shift.