OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently challenged the tech community to suggest what his company should build next, and one compelling answer has emerged: OpenAI should build Slack. The argument centers on OpenAI's unique position to create a next-generation workplace communication platform that addresses Slack's current shortcomings while leveraging OpenAI's AI expertise and enterprise relationships.

Slack's acquisition by Salesforce for $27.7B in 2021 has led to rising prices and underwhelming AI features, with users complaining about channel fatigue, notification spam, and inadequate tooling. Developers specifically criticize Slack's API costs and permissions, while founders bemoan pricing. Meanwhile, OpenAI has been shipping disconnected apps for chat, browsing, and coding rather than creating a unified workspace. Microsoft's Teams has already proven the enterprise collaboration market is viable, despite Teams' rocky start.

An OpenAI-built Slack would unify the company's fragmented desktop presence while creating permanent customer entrenchment. The platform could integrate AI agents seamlessly into daily workflows, offer superior real-time features like enhanced huddles, and provide the multiplayer coding agent interface OpenAI has been missing. With OpenAI employees already heavy Slack users, the company would benefit from immediate internal feedback. Most importantly, owning the communication layer would give OpenAI control over the social and work graphs that power its AI services, making it exponentially harder for customers to switch to competitors.