Why OpenAI Should Build Slack: The Strategic Imperative Behind Microsoft’s Dominance

Amid soaring valuations and mounting strategic pressures, OpenAI stands at a pivotal crossroads. While the company has dominated headlines with breakthroughs in generative AI, a quiet but profound question—posed by CEO Sam Altman—remains unanswered: Why doesn’t OpenAI build the platform where AI actually gets used? According to a provocative analysis on Latent Space, the answer lies in owning the workflow layer, not just the model layer. In essence, OpenAI should build its own Slack.

This isn’t merely a product suggestion; it’s a survival strategy. As Seeking Alpha highlights, OpenAI’s $588 billion valuation is perilously tied to its partnership with Microsoft. The tech giant holds a 49% economic stake, controls cloud infrastructure via Azure, and integrates OpenAI’s models into Office 365, Copilot, and Teams. While this alliance has accelerated OpenAI’s growth, it also creates a dangerous concentration risk: Microsoft now reaps the lion’s share of commercial value from OpenAI’s innovations. Without a proprietary user interface or workflow ecosystem, OpenAI risks becoming a commoditized API provider—akin to a semiconductor supplier in the age of Apple.

Building a Slack-like platform would allow OpenAI to reclaim control over the user experience. Slack, after all, didn’t just enable messaging; it became the central nervous system of remote teams. A next-generation OpenAI-native workspace would integrate real-time AI co-pilots into every conversation, document, and task. Imagine a channel where team members ask questions, and the AI synthesizes data from internal wikis, CRM systems, and email threads—then auto-generates summaries, action items, and follow-ups. This isn’t science fiction; it’s the logical evolution of AI-driven productivity.

Microsoft has already begun this transition with Copilot in Teams and Outlook, but its approach remains bolted onto legacy software. OpenAI, unburdened by decades of legacy code, could design a native AI-first environment from the ground up. Such a platform would not only enhance user retention but also create proprietary data flywheels—each interaction trains the model on real-world enterprise workflows, further widening its competitive moat.

Moreover, a Slack alternative would give OpenAI direct access to customer feedback, usage patterns, and monetization levers. Today, Microsoft controls pricing, bundling, and customer relationships. With its own platform, OpenAI could introduce tiered subscriptions, industry-specific AI agents, and API access to third-party developers—all while retaining revenue and brand equity.

Of course, this path is not without risks. Developing a full-featured collaboration tool demands significant engineering resources, sales infrastructure, and enterprise trust. But the alternative—remaining a backend dependency—is far more perilous. As Seeking Alpha warns, Microsoft’s dominance is becoming irresistible precisely because OpenAI has ceded the front-end. The next chapter in AI history won’t be written by the best models alone, but by the platforms that make them indispensable.

Sam Altman has often said AI should augment human potential. To do that at scale, OpenAI must move beyond the lab and into the daily rhythm of work. Building Slack isn’t just a product decision—it’s a strategic imperative. The clock is ticking, and Microsoft is already building the future OpenAI should own.