alt Hacker NewsThe key difference is that the models upgrade multiple times a year. It is an inherently different than a commodity market
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Yes, but changing models, even across providers, takes about two seconds and one line of code.
It’s literally the least stickiest thing in the history of tech. Which is a big problem for these companies.
I don't think most motorists would care if OpenAI's gas stations just released 106-Octane "Intersteller" gas, unless their cars specifically require it.
Even commodity markets recognize different grades of product. The oil market separately prices different grades of oil, different refined products. All that really matters is that when you go to the market to buy, you can say, "I need X amount of this grade of this product" and that is what you will get. If AI models can be sold that way, you basically have a commodity market.
But they're all converging on capability. Do I care if it's a 72% or 74% on SWEBench? Practically, probably not. And if I'm not paying per token locally, then if it takes a tiny bit longer to get to the result, I don't care.