The whole LLM as a service business model has a fundamental flaw to it. The cost of operating the data centres is an order of magnitude higher than the profit.
But if models get efficient enough to bring the costs down, then they become efficient enough to run locally. So, either it’s too expensive to operate, or nobody will want to use it as a service because running your own gives you privacy and flexibility.
The fact that investors don't get this is frankly incredible.
@yogthos Yeah I think it's a failing strategy too. I expect the costs to businesses would be higher than they'd be willing to go to play along. I think the average consumer would just go with whatever seems popular and lets them stay addicted to their algorithms though. 😅
@mauve I can't really see this working out in practice, if anything we'll likely just end up in a similar situation to solar and EVs where China steps up. Of course, we already see Chinese tech increasingly banned in the west. It is possible that the west just becomes a hermit kingdom while the rest of the world moves on.