AI App Developers Favour OpenAI Technologies, But Things Are Changing Fast

OpenAI is the most popular choice among AI app developers; the company dominates the space in large language models, but market dynamics are changing and its customers are exploring alternative options, TechRadar reports, citing research from cloud platform Vercel.

Image source: Dima Solomin / unsplash.com

A survey of 656 developers conducted by Vercel found that 87% use OpenAI models and 83% use the company’s API. Developers now use an average of two AI model providers, and 60% have switched providers in the past six months. Nearly a third of enterprises use DeepSeek, while only 10% of respondents use Microsoft’s large language models.

AI-powered product development is built around clear use cases, and app creators prioritize tools over teams: 45% of companies lack dedicated AI departments, and 57% report no AI experts in the leadership team. 75% of customer-facing apps prioritize AI-related features; 39% use chatbots for support.

Cost management is an important aspect: over 70% test models manually and spend less than $1,000 per month. In terms of cost reduction, only 14% of respondents train their models, with 60% using Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) and vector databases instead. The focus on tools, due to the “overhype” around AI, received an average rating of 6.4 out of 10 among respondents; the question of whether AI will transform the survey respondents’ industry in the next 12 months received a rating of 7.7 out of 10.