AI startups struggle to not become OpenAI’s ‘roadkill:’ ‘When you step on the court with Jordan, you don’t try to beat him at his game’

• Investors and founders gathered in San Francisco this week for the second Cerebral Valley AI Summit.
• Though OpenAI wasn’t in attendance, the maker of popular chatbot ChatGPT loomed over nearly every conversation.
• As money pours into generative AI, startups are searching for ways to chart their own paths. 

More than 300 AI founders and investors gathered earlier this week in San Francisco’s Hayes Valley neighborhood for the 2nd Cerebral Valley AI Summit, co-hosted by the independent journalist Eric Newcomer and AI gaming startup Volley.