Alright, let's get one thing straight: all this breathless coverage about AI breakthroughs and "democratization" is pure, unadulterated BS. We're not heading for some utopian future where everyone has their own personal AI sidekick. Nope. What's actually happening is a handful of mega-corps are consolidating all the power, and we're just along for the ride.
The Rich Get Richer, Courtesy of AI
Look at these Q3 numbers. Alphabet and Amazon killing it because of their Anthropic investments. Meanwhile, Microsoft's taking a bath on OpenAI. It's not about who has the best tech, it's about who has the deepest pockets. Google's sitting on a $10.7 billion net gain, while Amazon's pocketing almost 10 billion themselves! All thanks to Anthropic. A company, let's not forget, that just pulled in another $13 billion in funding. Alphabet (GOOGL) and Amazon (AMZN) See Billions in Gains From Anthropic’s AI Boom - TipRanks
So, what? Are we supposed to be impressed? Give me a break. This isn't innovation; it's financial engineering. It's about moving money around to create the illusion of progress while further entrenching the existing power structure.
And let's talk about this Anthropic valuation jump – from whatever to $183 billion. Seriously? It’s like watching a bunch of guys in suits play Monopoly with real money. What's the actual value here? Are they curing cancer? Solving world hunger? Nah, they're building slightly better chatbots and raking in cash.
The "Forward-Deployed Engineer" Scam
Oh, and this whole "forward-deployed engineer" (FDE) thing? Don't even get me started. It's just a fancy term for consultants, except now they're peddling AI snake oil instead of, I dunno, lean manufacturing or whatever the hell was trendy ten years ago. The new hot job in AI: forward-deployed engineers - Financial Times
Palantir's been doing this for ages, sending out "Echo" and "Delta" to "deduce customer needs." Sounds an awful lot like "figure out how to upsell them on our overpriced software," doesn't it? And now everyone's jumping on the bandwagon. Job postings for FDEs up 800%? That's not a sign of innovation; that's a sign of a bubble.
OpenAI customizing tech for John Deere so farmers can spray less chemicals? Okay, that sounds good on the surface. 60-70% reduction? But who's verifying these claims? Are we just supposed to take their word for it? And what are the long-term effects of this stuff? Are we trading one problem for another? Then again, maybe I'm the crazy one here.
And Google will be supplying Anthropic with a million AI chips. A MILLION. Worth tens of billions of dollars. You know, to help them build... what, exactly? More efficient ways to show us targeted ads?
Microsoft's Miserable Misstep
The funniest part of all this? Microsoft getting absolutely rekt by their OpenAI investment. $3.1 billion in losses? Serves 'em right for putting all their eggs in one basket. It's like watching the school bully get punched in the face – deeply satisfying.
It's almost poetic, the way Microsoft, the once-unstoppable behemoth, is now getting outmaneuvered by Google and Amazon. They thought they could just throw money at the problem and magically become AI leaders. Turns out, it takes more than just deep pockets. Who knew?
This Ain't Progress, It's Just a New Kind of Feudalism
This whole AI "revolution" isn't about empowering individuals. It's about consolidating power in the hands of a few mega-corporations. We're not heading for some bright, shiny future; we're heading for a new kind of feudalism, where a handful of tech lords control all the resources and everyone else is just a serf, toiling away in their digital fields. And honestly... it's depressing as hell.