OpenAI

Founded a decade ago by Sam Altman and Elon Musk, OpenAI set out with a mission to build safe and beneficial artificial intelligence for humanity. Today, the company is best known for ChatGPT, the world’s most widely used generative AI model, available in both free and premium versions. In 2024, OpenAI unveiled GPT-4o, a groundbreaking multimodal model capable of real-time interaction across text, voice, and images. It also launched Sora, a platform that turns written scripts into video content.

Microsoft

Founded 50 years ago by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Microsoft has evolved from an operating system developer into one of the AI sector’s most powerful forces. At the heart of its AI push is the Copilot platform, an intelligent assistant embedded across Windows, Microsoft 365, and other key products. Copilot helps users draft documents, analyze spreadsheets, create presentations, and streamline daily workflows. In 2025, Microsoft rolled out an upgraded Copilot Studio platform and introduced multi-agent AI capabilities, along with integrated image generation inside Office apps.

Google

Launched in the late 1990s by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google stands among the elite in AI innovation today. In 2025, the company debuted its enhanced Gemini 2.5 Pro model, embedded into Gmail, Chrome, and other services. It supports multimodal queries, audio generation, and advanced data analysis. Google is also expanding its Gemma lineup, lightweight open-source models built for local use. The latest Gemma 3n version processes text, images, and audio directly on devices, eliminating the need for a cloud connection.

DeepSeek

Founded in 2023 in China, DeepSeek has quickly emerged as a major force in the AI arena. In 2025, the company unveiled DeepSeek-V2.5, a model that blends high-speed, high-efficiency text and code generation. Built on a Mixture-of-Experts architecture, the model performs at a level comparable to GPT-4 Turbo. DeepSeek is also investing heavily in its specialized DeepSeek Coder series, designed to assist developers with writing and analyzing code. All of its models are open-source, positioning DeepSeek as a key player in the open AI ecosystem.

Stability AI

Launched in 2019 by Emad Mostaque, Stability AI focuses on generative multimodal models. Its flagship product, Stable Diffusion, is an open-source neural network for text-to-image generation. In October 2024, the company released Stable Diffusion 3.5, featuring enhanced detail and reliability. The firm is also pushing into audio generation: Stable Audio 2.0 can create tracks up to three minutes long, with a lightweight version available for mobile platforms. Stability AI’s commitment to open access makes it a vital force in the creative AI space.

Meta

Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg, Meta is advancing its own AI technologies with a focus on open models and broad integration. In spring 2025, the company launched a standalone Meta AI app, powered by its new LLaMA 4 model. Meta AI had already been embedded in WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, and Facebook, but the release of LLaMA 4 expanded its capabilities, adding image generation, voice control, and personalized responses.

xAI

Founded two years ago by Elon Musk, xAI has made a rapid entrance into the AI space. In February 2025, the company unveiled Grok 3, an advanced language model integrated into the X platform (formerly Twitter). Equipped with DeepSearch and Think Mode features, the model offers powerful content generation and analytical capabilities. In May 2025, xAI introduced Grok 3.5, an upgraded version with an extended context window and developer-friendly API support. Grok is available via the X Premium+ subscription and has been recently integrated into Microsoft’s Azure AI Foundry.

Perplexity

Founded in 2022 by Aravind Srinivas, Johnny Ho, Denis Yarats, and Andy Konwinski, Perplexity AI positions itself as the next-generation “answer engine.” The service blends AI and web search to deliver precise answers complete with source citations. In 2025, the company rolled out Perplexity Assistant, a multimodal agent capable of handling context-aware tasks, including voice commands and image analysis. The platform supports GPT-4o, Claude 3.5, and LLaMA 3 models.

Midjourney

Midjourney is an independent research lab founded three years ago under the direction of David Holz, specializing in generative visual content. Its namesake product, Midjourney, is a neural network designed to create images from text prompts. It is renowned for its high quality, artistic style, and customization flexibility. In 2025, the company continued refining its fifth-generation model, improving detail rendering and adding stylistic filters. The tool is widely used across design, marketing, and creative industries.

Anthropic

Founded in 2021 by former OpenAI employees, Anthropic is committed to building safe and reliable AI. In May 2025, the company released its Claude 4 model series, led by the flagship Claude Opus 4. The model excels at programming, complex reasoning, and managing long-duration tasks. Claude Opus 4 can work autonomously on projects for hours, delivering strong accuracy and output. To reinforce safety, Anthropic introduced the ASL-3 protocol, which includes enhanced safeguards against misuse.