Apple and Amazon will miss AI like Intel missed mobile

AI as Commodity vs Differentiator

• Many commenters argue LLMs are rapidly commoditizing: multiple vendors and open models have similar quality, and “AI tokens” look like undifferentiated infrastructure.
• Others note that even if core models converge, ecosystems, habits, data, and workflows (where models are integrated, what they remember, how they’re embedded in tools) will not be commodity.
• A recurring view: the durable value will sit in hardware, data access, UX, and “killer apps” rather than in raw models.

Apple’s Position and Strategy

• Critical view: Apple is “behind” on AI; Siri lags modern assistants, Apple Intelligence was over‑promised and delayed, and leadership prioritized buybacks and partnerships (e.g., external models, default search) over building foundational models.
• Supportive view: Apple has a long history of entering late and winning with polished hardware–software integration (iPhone, Watch, AirPods). Caution in a hype cycle may be rational.
• Hardware is seen as a major asset: efficient SoCs and large unified memory make Macs and iPhones attractive for local inference and small specialized models; some imagine Apple enabling local model marketplaces.
• Others counter that local LLM use is niche at consumer scale, and Apple’s platform restrictions and fear of cannibalizing iPhone/Mac usage hold back more radical AI-first form factors.

Amazon and AWS in AI

• AWS is widely viewed as well positioned: massive AI capex, custom chips, Bedrock/SageMaker hosting many third‑party and in‑house models, and existing enterprise trust.
• Several note Amazon is already “capturing value” as the place where models run, even if it doesn’t own the top frontier model.
• Alexa’s stagnation is a common complaint: people question why it doesn’t use strong LLMs yet, citing latency, cost, reliability, and prior financial losses as likely constraints.

Devices, Interfaces, and Paradigm Shift

• Some buy the article’s premise that AI could enable new primary devices (watch, glasses, VR/AR, voice‑first agents) and dynamic generative UIs. Others doubt voice/glasses can replace phones due to input limits, latency, privacy, and loss of UI consistency.
• A recurring counterpoint: phones remain central for years; if a new form factor emerges, Apple is more likely than a pure AI company to ship mass‑market hardware.

Skepticism About the AI Boom & Article

• Several commenters call current gen‑AI a bubble, scam, or fad, expecting an “AI winter” and AI to settle as a background feature, not a revolution.
• Others think Apple and Amazon’s more conservative, commoditization‑oriented strategies may age better than aggressive “own the model” bets.
• Multiple people criticize the article for weakly supporting its thesis, oversimplifying AWS as “competing on price,” and not clearly identifying who actually “wins” if Apple and Amazon “miss AI.”