First, over $55 billion raised since 2022 has fueled monumental, yet sometimes subtle, leaps in model capability that go far beyond the visible user interface. The real progress isn't just in the chat window, but in the underlying reasoning and multimodal power.

This investment is being funneled into what I see as a relentless and unsustainable cycle of spending: the high cost of training next-generation models, the immense expense of running user queries (inference), and a fierce bidding war for top AI talent.

Based on this, it's clear to me that the current "growth at all costs" phase is unsustainable. This reality will inevitably force a strategic shift from a pure focus on innovation to the pressing need for a viable, profitable business model.

Therefore, I predict they will be forced to take specific cost-saving steps. To manage the colossal expense of inference, models will likely be subtly "tuned down," masking reduced computational depth with more verbose, fluffy output.

Finally, I anticipate that a logical, if controversial, cost-saving step will involve the company using its own AI to justify workforce reductions, championing this as the new era of automated productivity they are selling to the world.

And by the way, downvoting this won’t prevent the unavoidable future.