Why are all the big tech companies throwing money at LLM chatbots? Is it because all the other cool kids are doing it? Because they think they can replace their workforces?
Halfway through Giblin and @pluralistic's Chokepoint Capitalism, I'm beginning to think it's because they believe these will become the first thing people reach for when they need information (especially as search is becoming worthless). Controlling that gateway (to eventually sell access and ads) will be huge.
@peterdrake As far as I can tell this is it
@peterdrake yep, I think you're right on point with that.
Beyond controlling the information gateway, it's also the latest hype, and a way to get extra investor/VC money pouring in. When it flops/seriously calms down/gets regulated (the EU at least is working on that in a pretty harsh manner), they can just be like "oops, that didn't play out as expected" and keep the cash...