Here's something that doesn't get talked about enough:
The AI models you and I can use? They're already obsolete compared to what the big labs are running internally.
This isn't some conspiracy theory. It's just how product development works. By the time something gets polished, tested, and released to the public, the teams building it have already moved on to the next version.
But here's where it gets interesting for markets:
If you're in an intelligence-intensive industry — think finance, legal, consulting, research — you're competing against firms that might have access to capabilities you won't see for 6-12 months. Maybe longer.
That's not a level playing field. That's an information asymmetry that makes the old Bloomberg terminal advantage look quaint.
The gap between cutting-edge AI and public AI is a moat. And like all moats in capitalism, someone will figure out how to monetize it.
This matters for how you think about competitive positioning, talent retention, and where the next wave of productivity gains actually shows up in earnings.
Don't sleep on the access gap. It's going to define winners and losers in ways that have nothing to do with who has the best strategy or the smartest people.
The AI models you and I can use? They're already obsolete compared to what the big labs are running internally.
This isn't some conspiracy theory. It's just how product development works. By the time something gets polished, tested, and released to the public, the teams building it have already moved on to the next version.
But here's where it gets interesting for markets:
If you're in an intelligence-intensive industry — think finance, legal, consulting, research — you're competing against firms that might have access to capabilities you won't see for 6-12 months. Maybe longer.
That's not a level playing field. That's an information asymmetry that makes the old Bloomberg terminal advantage look quaint.
The gap between cutting-edge AI and public AI is a moat. And like all moats in capitalism, someone will figure out how to monetize it.
This matters for how you think about competitive positioning, talent retention, and where the next wave of productivity gains actually shows up in earnings.
Don't sleep on the access gap. It's going to define winners and losers in ways that have nothing to do with who has the best strategy or the smartest people.