Lulu Cheng Meservey proposes OpenAI pivot its public positioning to an underdog comeback narrative

There’s a window right now for an OAI narrative resurgence

The best move is to reposition themselves from “Pressured Incumbent” to “Underdog on a Comeback Arc”

Kinda painful, because it means admitting to no longer having the lead. But unavoidable - people already think that, and you can’t have a comeback without something to come back from

This is a chance for storytelling. Specifically, a 3-act story

Right now people think the story is two acts: Act 1 they were ahead Act 2 now they’re not (and trying to convince people otherwise comes off as cope)

The new story adds a third act: Act 1 we created the category and we built lots of amazing new things Act 2 we spread ourselves too thin and learned we needed to do fewer things better Act 3 we’re focused, we’re united, we’re bringing in hitters. We’ve got some of the smartest people in the world, now with TBPN on comms, TWO full Noams on research, Dean Ball on policy. We’re coming to take our lead back (motivating, energizing, upward arc of the hero’s journey)

When you frame the story this way, you create a U-shaped trajectory

Plus, the underdog position comes with big advantages that the incumbent doesn’t get

Everybody loves the underdog, and everybody loves a comeback story

Nobody roots for the frontrunner, nobody forgives their missteps, everybody takes shots at them. The lucky underdog has permission to be scrappy, to do surprising things, to throw punches

OpenAI has spent years in the lead position - playing defense, fighting impossible expectations, not allowed to punch “down” while people call them gay and evil

Switching to the underdog position lets them take more risks and finally go offense

Being an underdog is a gift! If you have that opportunity, definitely use it