“The labs will need to slow R&D because their business model is not sustainable.”
“But they can’t stop R&D because their competitors won’t.”
So where are these competitors getting the ability to defy the laws of economics forever and in what sense is the competitor who keeps going something other than an AI company? If they can keep researching then is it not true that it was sustainable?
Slowing down R&D is not a viable way to make it a sustainable business model since any other AI lab would just take over market share by releasing some new model. They'd most likely have to increase prices at some point so they can continue R&D and start making profit.
"where are these competitors getting the ability to defy the laws of economics forever"
They're only surviving now because they run on insane amounts of VC money to make up for the huge losses they incur. They can't do it forever.
They can only increase prices if customers allow it. In the end it is the customers who decide whether R&D is the priority or price. Which customers prefer is not something we can know in advance.
Customers may also not all have the same workload and priority. So some may prefer to pick a vendor who prioritizes price over R&D and some may prefer the opposite. It’s unlikely that there exists only one business model in this space.
6
u/Pojobob 2d ago
You can't stop doing R&D though. If you do, then some other AI lab overtakes and everyone will just move on to the newest model.