I think the argument this article makes though is that generative AI isn't generating enough value to justify the sky high valuations and investment. Sure, if all of these services disappeared overnight, the remaining users could self host or run a model locally. I feel like that speaks to the lack of value any one company provides though?
Maybe this era of AI will be remembered as a wealth transfer from VCs back to everyday consumers lol
Only insofar as $1 Uber rides were a transfer of VC funding to everyday consumers. When the funding dries up and there's a need for revenue, then we'll see what they charge. Hopefully for them, they've become inextricable from our lives, like Uber has, and we'll gladly pay the new price. Not everyone will be hooked though, but the VC bet is that enough people will be that their horse wins the race and they'll make money.
There are a lot of horses in this race and the literally billion dollar question is who's Amazon this time around, and who's Webvan. Who's Uber and who's Flywheel (which doesn't even have a Wikipedia page anymore,
ouch). Not knowing which horse is going to win doesn't negate the fact that a horse is going to win.
Model available LLMs, like Llama and Deepseek and StableDiffusion are totally a wealth transfer to consumers. Better make use of them!
Maybe this era of AI will be remembered as a wealth transfer from VCs back to everyday consumers lol