The Companies Taking AI Beyond the Chatbot

Since ChatGPT’s launch in 2022, public uptake of AI chatbots has been staggering. Over 987 million people and half of US adults reportedly use the technology.

But the first wave of AI development is now over. Gone are the days when LLM’s alone dominated the AI discussion. AI’s new wave is being driven by startups you have not heard of and is increasingly diverse, ranging from agents and infrastructure to specialist professional services tools and robotics.

Rotem Farkash on why AI startups matter

Serial startup founder and AI expert Rotem Farkash sees startups as integral to the AI boom. He explained, “The Big AI players matter. Their infrastructure, research and technology got us to where we are now.”

Farkash continued, “But, the names you recognize such as Meta, Microsoft, and OpenAI, cannot do everything. Newer and more nimble companies with fresh ideas are often where true innovation lies.”

Infrastructure powering the AI economy

As AI has boomed, companies have sprung up to develop the extensive infrastructure needed to service the next wave.

Founded in 2022, Together AI is one of these startups. Together AI is a full-stack AI platform which enables companies to train and run AI tasks on open models such as DeepSeek, MiniMax and Kimi at lower costs than closed systems.

By making leading models easier and cheaper to train and deploy, its platform gives customers the foundations to build new AI products and tools, helping drive wider adoption.

Founded in 2018, Crusoe’s rapid rise has demonstrated the growing need for infrastructure to power AI’s growing energy and compute needs.

The company looks for innovative energy sources, builds and manages hyperscale AI factories, and offers a scalable AI cloud platform. This helped Crusoe earn a place on Fast Company’s list of the most innovative companies of 2026.

Specialist AI tools are transforming professions

AI tools are already changing professions, and Anysphere Inc., founded in 2022 by four MIT graduates, is a leading example of a company that has done just that.

Anysphere made Cursor, an AI-driven code editor that can analyze a programmer’s actions and suggest the next few lines. Cursor also offers a chatbot that users can ask code-related questions. The tool has completely changed the day-to-day work of any programmer that uses it.

Describing his company’s own product, Anysphere President Oskar Schulz said, “It just makes a thing that you do every day better and faster.” Big tech has taken notice of Cursor, and in June 2026, SpaceX announced a formal agreement to buy the company for $60 billion worth of stock.

Another company revolutionizing its industry is Harvey, a law focused AI firm, which was founded in 2022 by Winston Weinberg, a former securities and antitrust litigator, and Gabriel Pereyra, a former research scientist at Google DeepMind and Meta.

Its AI solutions help to streamline workflows in areas including contract analysis, due diligence, compliance, and litigation to drive efficiency and value. Over 75% of AmLaw 100 firms employ Harvey, demonstrating that its tools are being adopted extensively by the legal industry.

AI video-generation startup Synthesia has also seen major uptake, and is employed by 70% of FTSE 100 companies.

Its AI avatars are particularly used for training, enablement, onboarding, and internal communication, and the company had a $4 billion valuation after a $200 million Series E raise in January 2026.

AI is entering physical world

Figure AI is the next frontier. Founded in 2022 by serial entrepreneur Brett Adcock, Figure AI develops AI-powered, bipedal humanoid robots, such as Figure 01, designed to perform physical tasks in environments like warehouses and homes.

When AI is not just on your computer or phone, but behaving almost like a human at work or in a house, the future will have truly arrived.

Wooju Ryu: AI is a “transformative force”

Prolific inventor Wooju Ryu said, “AI is not just a tool; it’s a transformative force that will redefine how we interact with the world and each other.”

None of the six companies named in this article existed when OpenAI was founded in 2015. Yet today, they are at the forefront of their niches within AI and are major players in a technological revolution that is changing the world.

From robotics to AI agents, to coding tools to AI-video generators, each company listed here is charting the path to an AI future.