OpenAI Explores Business Development Hub in Israel to Strengthen Local AI Ecosystem

OpenAI, the AI pioneer behind ChatGPT, is considering establishing a business development operation in Israel to deepen ties with the local high-tech sector. This initial step is not a development center but aims to build partnerships with Israeli startups, similar to cloud companies like Amazon and Google that grow revenues alongside local tech firms. A senior Israeli executive recently recruited from Amazon, who managed AWS for Startups, has joined OpenAI to lead the EMEA region with a focus on Israel. OpenAI plans to host a startup event in Israel later this month in collaboration with AWS to showcase its enterprise services.

Currently, OpenAI is hiring for client management roles targeting Israel’s high-tech sector, with positions officially listed in Paris but expected to be based in Israel. The company anticipates appointing a country manager to lead its Israeli sales branch as the operation expands. Unlike its London and Zurich development centers, OpenAI’s Israel presence will initially emphasize business development before potentially growing into engineering recruitment, following a pattern seen in other countries.

Israel’s advanced AI ecosystem and rapid adoption of AI tools make it a strategic market for OpenAI. Despite not developing its own large language model, Israel ranks first globally in per capita use of Anthropic’s Claude AI, a key competitor. Research also shows Israel leads in AI talent concentration and ranks third in AI investment, with $19 billion invested from 2013 to 2025. OpenAI aims to capture this significant market to boost enterprise adoption and improve its language models through increased usage.

OpenAI faces competition from Anthropic, which has focused more on enterprise clients and expanded aggressively in Europe and Asia. Anthropic is expected to surpass OpenAI’s revenue this year, nearing $50 billion annually compared to OpenAI’s $25 billion, and recently achieved a higher private valuation. OpenAI has postponed its planned Wall Street IPO to 2027 amid concerns about reaching a $1 trillion valuation, while Anthropic is preparing for a major IPO in New York, confident of exceeding that milestone.