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The current phase of the artificial intelligence (AI) arms race centers on the enterprise software market, where Google and OpenAI are pursuing radically different, yet ultimately colliding, strategies to control the future of work. The outcome of this battle will determine who controls the operating system of the AI economy.

Google's Strategy: The Fortress (Enterprise-Out) Google's approach, labeled "enterprise-out," involves leveraging its vast cloud infrastructure and the ubiquitous Workspace productivity suite to embed AI deeply into existing business workflows via Gemini Enterprise. This strategy focuses on integration, unifying advanced AI models (like the multimodal Gemini 2.5 family) and over 1,500 pre-built AI agents with corporate data across critical applications like Salesforce, SAP, and ServiceNow, offering a "single front door for AI". Google has strategically slashed pricing for Gemini Enterprise by bundling premium AI capabilities directly into standard Workspace plans, repositioning AI from an expensive specialty tool to a ubiquitous utility. Google's strategy is seen as lower risk, playing to its strengths in infrastructure and existing customer relationships.

OpenAI's Strategy: The Platform (Consumer-In) OpenAI, backed by Microsoft, is pursuing a more audacious "consumer-in" revolution, attempting to transform its viral chatbot, ChatGPT, into a new computing platform and operating system. This platform could eventually replace the web browser, app store, and traditional Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model entirely. Using the Apps SDK and AgentKit, OpenAI envisions an ecosystem where users perform tasks—from shopping to creating presentations—without leaving the conversational interface. This high-risk gamble aims to establish ChatGPT as the dominant AI platform, with OpenAI capturing revenue cuts similar to an App Store or fees through an ambitious "agentic commerce protocol".

The Stakes While Google is solving today's enterprise integration issues and OpenAI is building tomorrow's interface, a collision is inevitable as they compete for control of the "agentic layer"—the platform that orchestrates autonomous, multi-step tasks. The conflict poses an existential threat to traditional SaaS companies (like Salesforce or Adobe), which risk being disintermediated if users can perform major tasks directly through ChatGPT. Potential winners include infrastructure providers, notably NVIDIA, which is powering the massive compute requirements of both platforms, and adaptive SaaS leaders like ServiceNow that are partnering with both tech giants.

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