Why Are We Still Doing This?

Source: Where’s Your Ed At Date: 2026-03-17 URL: https://www.wheresyoured.at/why-are-we-still-doing-this/

Summary

Ed demands the AI industry stop using speculative language and present evidence of actual current value. Core claim: Anthropic and OpenAI have burned enormous capital (“Anthropic turned $30 billion into $5 billion”) with negligible returns, relying entirely on future-tense promises. Subscription models mask true infrastructure costs from users, making price increases impossible without churn. Even AI-generated code quality and actual revenue generation remain unproven — making the trillion-dollar buildout a con propped up by media hype and VC delusion.

Implications

• AI financial sustainability. “Will” and “could” as prohibited words is Ed’s evidentiary standard — the same demand for present-tense proof rather than future-tense promise that he applies to every AI financial claim. The $30B → $5B Anthropic formulation is the sharpest single-company indictment.
• Generative AI ROI. Subscription pricing masking true infrastructure costs means enterprise customers cannot accurately price AI into their operations — cost increases are coming once the subsidy ends, and current ROI models built on subsidized pricing will prove wrong.
• Capital markets. “Media hype and VC delusion” as the structural support mechanism for trillion-dollar buildout spending — when either weakens, the whole structure requires re-rating.