OpenAI Shipped Your Voice Stack at $0.25/Min. Vapi Went Enterprise. The Infra Layer Abandoned Agencies in Eleven Days.

In a rapid tech shake-up, OpenAI released its advanced gpt-realtime-2 API for conversational AI at a competitive rate of $0.25 to $0.35 per minute, promising high-level reasoning and extensive language support. Just days later, Vapi, an enterprise infrastructure provider, secured $50 million in Series B funding and positioned itself as a key player in the market, notably powering Amazon Ring. However, Vapi's swift transition to enterprise status has left many agencies feeling abandoned, raising concerns about the pace of change and its impact on smaller players in the sector. This shift highlights the evolving dynamics in AI infrastructure and the competitive pressures faced by agencies.