In a sense, I think everyone knew it was coming. Historically speaking, in US at least, there initially may be a notable number of upstarts, but those numbers quickly dwindle to form oligopolies. That is how we end up with 3 million cereal types, but 2-3 companies controlling them. The same repeats throughout most industries with an annoying consistency.
I actually use both gpt and local qwen and I personally think the question tends to be of what one needs ( speed? privacy? lack of corporate silliness? ).
Still, it is sad that we can predict the future so well based merely on what happened before.
Edit: I certainly hope I don't have to explain to you why the above is relevant. No market participant would dare to argue this if the competition was healthy.
I actually use both gpt and local qwen and I personally think the question tends to be of what one needs ( speed? privacy? lack of corporate silliness? ).
Still, it is sad that we can predict the future so well based merely on what happened before.
Edit: I certainly hope I don't have to explain to you why the above is relevant. No market participant would dare to argue this if the competition was healthy.