‘Apple is getting this wrong,’ says OpenAI — startup blasts iPhone maker over lawsuit alleging it stole confidential information through ex-Apple employees

Not only do journalists do this all the time now, it’s even a thing within the companies themselves. I previously worked for a company that had been running for 10 years and had over 500 employees and close to $100MM in annual revenue. Every single meeting, one of the executives would use some form of “we’re still just a startup” as an excuse when asked tough questions.

Guess they can claim it til they make a profit, or go under

Its like Sam Adam's calling themselves a small brewery. (They also do this because they basically run the small brewery association and change the definition to include themselves).

When they’re no longer a startup they’ll be called ClosedAI

Startup doesn’t really have a strict definition but generally the term is used for a business with an unproven business model that has to scale rapidly just to be viable, and often relies on VC funding. This is opposed to like starting your own plumbing business with your own capital and you’re profitable as soon as you pick up a couple regular clients.

OpenAI doesn’t have a business model yet and they don’t make any money so it makes sense that they haven’t shed the startup label. Like a roughly accurate test is to imagine what would happen if all the outside investments disappeared overnight. Could OpenAI continue operating on its own two feet? If the answer is no, it’s still a startup.

There isn't enough fingers in this cookie jar.

The fact that they keep talking about it is suspect. They are trying to sway opinions in the public. It's a very guilty look.