It’s hard to argue against the open weight models if your only concern is coding. Which, for many of us hackers here in this forum, it is.
But I would like to point out that the overwhelming majority of people using LLMs aren’t programmers, don’t care about coding, and couldn’t even be bothered to “vibe code”.
So we should consider the bias of the output of these open weight models, and what that looks like, outside of the context of writing code.
There is no money made from these people though .. people who are using ChatGPT to plan for their next week-end or their next vacation aren't paying a $100 or $200 monthly subscription. As for non coder office workers (accountants, PMs, etc.), they use Microsoft or Google products which all integrate AI to some extent within their products - with RAG for Sharepoint to some basic AIs to generate text or automate work in spreadsheets .. the models used there are already capable enough for all what's needed (I think Microsoft is using GPT 5.1 or 5.2 in its latest iteration but for sure no GPT 5.4/5.5). The thing is, Software development is where money is made for these labs
You’re making a good point. I don’t disagree with what you’re saying. But I think my point got lost.
I don’t agree with “Software development is where money is made for these labs”. Coders will inevitably eat up the most tokens & buy the bigger $200 subscriptions because we want to keep working.
But us coders are still the small minority of users. They aren’t counting on us to get to trillion dollar evaluations.
They are counting on the regular folks to buy the $20/ month subscription. It’s really easy to run out your free tier usage these days, asking questions that have nothing to do with coding.
So my point is what does that output look like for someone asking a question about politics or world news?
I think most of these $20/mo subscrptions will either be Apple's iCloud, Microsoft's Office 365 or Google's Drive+Office plans which already do or will offer bundled AI.
I know Google gives me free Gemini AI from my Google Drive plan. Microsoft probably already does too, didn't test. Apple is probably crafting some arrangements if not offering already.
My point is most people wont pay for AI. It will be bundled.
And I think AI is going to be free for all, with ads.
People who are using ChatGPT to plan their next weekend are driving by MAU (monthly active users) which Wall Street likes to see which has driven it to a trillion dollar valuation.
I wouldn’t call that “no money”