2024 was quite the year for consumer AI. The major labs—OpenAI, DeepMind, Anthropic, xAI, Perplexity, and Meta—all threw their heavyweight products into the ring, and the results? Wildly different.

Each player brought distinct strategies to the table. Some moves clicked, others... not so much. The real story isn't just who launched what, but *how* they positioned themselves and what actually resonated with users.

Think about it: DeepMind's approach versus xAI's aggressive positioning. Anthropic's safety-first narrative against Meta's scale-and-iterate philosophy. Perplexity carving out search as their angle. OpenAI just doing what OpenAI does.

Looking back, a few winners emerged, some faltered. The surprises? They're worth paying attention to—they signal where this AI arms race is actually heading next.