OpenAI Acquires Slide Deck Startup NextSlide
OpenAI has recently acquired a young startup, NextSlide, which specialized in transforming prompts, notes, documents, and research into editable presentations. The financial details of the deal remain undisclosed, and the NextSlide team is now integrated into ChatGPT.
A Rapid Rise and Exit
Founded mid-2025, NextSlide managed to secure an exit just a year later, highlighting OpenAI’s rapid expansion and acquisition strategy. This is Ahmed Beshry’s second successful startup exit; he co-founded Caper AI, a smart-cart and cashierless checkout company, which was acquired by Instacart in 2021.
OpenAI’s Office Suite Strategy
This acquisition is part of OpenAI’s broader strategy to assemble an office suite within ChatGPT. They have also invested in other projects like io (Jony Ive’s hardware startup), Statsig (an analytics firm), Hiro (a personal finance app), and Roi, absorbing these teams into their ecosystem.
Building Blocks for a Suite
Presentations are not a random addition; they are integral to an office suite, including documents, canvas, file handling, and now decks. OpenAI’s ChatGPT Work agent exemplifies this vision, capable of taking action across various apps and files, reflecting a project’s ongoing needs over a single query.
The Challenge: PowerPoint and Microsoft
Interestingly, the product NextSlide aimed to replace is Microsoft’s PowerPoint. As Microsoft is OpenAI’s largest investor and has integrated OpenAI technology into its Office suite, Windows, and Bing, this acquisition raises questions about potential conflicts of interest. Regulators in the EU and UK have already expressed scrutiny over the OpenAI-Microsoft relationship.
Competition in the Market
Google, too, is playing a similar game with Gemini Spark, an always-on assistant launched at I/O that integrates with Gmail. This strategy differs from OpenAI’s, as Google owns the productivity surfaces and adds AI intelligence, while OpenAI focuses on developing AI and acquiring tools to host it.
The Future of Productivity
The success of these approaches depends on user preference: whether they prefer AI-enhanced existing tools or AI-centric new applications. NextSlide represents a bet on the latter.