All the 100s of billions of dollars Silicon Valley is pouring into AI depend on one thing. Earning it back in the future. OpenAI, which made $13 billion last year, thinks it might make $200 billion in 2030. New data points to a different reality; AI use may be declining in big corporate customers. Though perhaps it's a blip, and it may begin climbing again.
AI use is still spreading worldwide, and open-source efforts are the equal of Silicon Valley's offerings. Even if the current Silicon Valley AI leaders fail, that won't stop. But the US is piggybacking on the Silicon Valley boom to try to reach AGI. That effort may be affected.
Link to graph of the data, source US Census Bureau - PDF 1 page
This is wonderful news. We really can't afford the environmental impact that wide adoption of AI would bring. The energy expenditure is just ridiculous for these models.