xAI Sends Engineers to Client Sites to Win Business from OpenAI

Elon Musk’s xAI is sending engineers directly into the offices of prospective corporate clients in an attempt to claw business customers away from rivals OpenAI and Anthropic PBC.

The hands-on approach helped xAI land payments company Shift4 Payments Inc., which now plans to phase out OpenAI’s ChatGPT in favor of xAI’s Grok after the on-site work, Shift4 Chief Executive Officer Taylor Lauber said in an interview. The firm, founded by NASA Administrator and Musk ally Jared Isaacman, will continue using Anthropic’s Claude for coding, Lauber added.

xAI’s white-glove strategy mirrors a broader shift across the AI ...