Very good point here—being able to back out does make the capex look less scary.
ykevinzhang
Karma: 75
Really thoughtful and super agree!
To Anthropic’s credit they seem to have backtracked for now (re. Windsurf). I think over time it’ll more be that foundation models end up building more first party apps, putting them directly in competition with app developers. I don’t think API revenues can justify even current day valuations for frontier AI labs so they have to go there.
Love both these points. Argument can also be made for training new talent (managers / ICs will eventually retire as well)