OpenAI has acquired NextSlide, a presentation software startup, with the company's team now working on ChatGPT features, according to NextSlide's announcement.
The deal marks OpenAI's continued expansion into productivity software. Neither OpenAI nor NextSlide disclosed a purchase price or the size of the acquired team. NextSlide previously offered AI-powered tools to generate and design presentations, positioning itself as an alternative to manual slide creation in PowerPoint and Google Slides.
OpenAI has pursued a pattern of talent acquisition to strengthen ChatGPT's capabilities across different modalities and use cases. The company acquired Rockset, a real-time analytics platform, in 2024 to add data querying features. It also absorbed the team behind Noam Shazeer's Character.AI earlier in 2024 to expand conversational AI depth. Each acquisition has been folded into ChatGPT development rather than maintained as a standalone product.
NextSlide operated in a competitive segment. Dozens of AI presentation tools have launched since 2023, including Gamma, Decktopus, and Beautiful.AI. The startup had raised funding from institutional investors and positioned itself as a time-saving layer on top of existing presentation workflows. No headcount or funding history was disclosed in OpenAI's announcement.
OpenAI is embedding presentation capabilities directly into ChatGPT's interface rather than integrating third-party tools through API partnerships. ChatGPT users today can generate text-based slide outlines; bringing an in-house team focused on design and layout execution could shorten the path from text to finished decks without leaving the platform.
OpenAI has not named the specific ChatGPT features NextSlide's team will build. The company typically integrates acquired teams into existing product roadmaps without announcing feature timelines in advance. NextSlide's previous product is no longer advertised as active.
Acquisitions of AI startups have accelerated as larger AI platforms compete to embed specialized capabilities. The number of notable talent acquisitions by OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and Meta in the AI tools space has roughly tripled since 2023. OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and Meta now treat presentation-generation capability as valuable enough to build in-house rather than through external partnerships.
The document to watch is any official OpenAI product roadmap update naming presentation or slide generation capabilities; until then, no timeline exists for when ChatGPT users will see the NextSlide team's work.
