Ed is an interesting character. His financial analysis of the AI industry makes logical sense to me (though I am not knowledgeable enough to actually know if it is correct.) However, he seems to be so angry at AI in general, that he misses the obvious areas where LLMs are actually changing the State of the Art.
Coding seems to be one of the core use-cases for LLMs (as Simon Willison pointed out recently) and even if that's the only real use-case for LLMs, they're wildly useful. I do understand that useful != profitable and that's where I think Ed has a real point: until inference becomes much cheaper these companies cannot be profitable. Some mega-players will pay the API token price, but most will not.
Coding seems to be one of the core use-cases for LLMs (as Simon Willison pointed out recently) and even if that's the only real use-case for LLMs, they're wildly useful. I do understand that useful != profitable and that's where I think Ed has a real point: until inference becomes much cheaper these companies cannot be profitable. Some mega-players will pay the API token price, but most will not.