Introduction: The Explosive Growth of the AI Market
The AI market is growing at an unprecedented rate, with new tools and platforms launching every day. Many startups claim to offer “autonomous agents” or AI-powered solutions, but often these are just extensions of GPT models. This raises a crucial question for the future of AI: Will GPT absorb these new tools into its core, or will there be space for a fragmented ecosystem?
AI Tools and the GPT Model: A Closer Look
Most of the new AI marketing tools are essentially wrappers around GPT. They use the GPT API to create user-friendly interfaces and charge subscription fees, but they don’t bring anything truly innovative to the table. Instead, they rely on GPT’s capabilities for understanding language, generating images, and even code.
Examples of GPT-Based Tools
- GitHub Copilot: Built on OpenAI’s Codex, a specialized GPT model, offering coding assistance. But similar functionality can be achieved by integrating GPT-4 directly into a development environment.
- AI design tools: These tools are often replacing platforms that once required specific AI solutions, such as AI-powered interior design. With the multimodal features of GPT, users can now generate stunning designs by uploading images directly.
The Rise of Custom GPTs and Its Impact
In 2023, OpenAI introduced Custom GPTs and the GPT Store, allowing anyone to create tailored GPT models without coding. This move has led to the rise of over 3 million custom GPTs, many of which replace the need for specialized AI agents in fields like real estate, design, or law.
How Custom GPTs Are Changing the AI Ecosystem
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Startups that once relied on AI agents for niche applications now face competition from users who can easily create their own Custom GPTs.
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This shift reduces the need for third-party GPT applications and disrupts traditional AI agency models.
Why GPT Will Absorb Its Ecosystem
This isn’t a new trend in tech. Platforms with sufficient power tend to absorb third-party applications. Just as web browsers replaced desktop apps and smartphones absorbed several devices, GPT is gradually consolidating many tools into its core offering.
What GPT’s Expansion Means for the AI Market
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As GPT models expand with new capabilities like file uploads, code interpretation, and image recognition, the need for standalone AI solutions diminishes.
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For users of AI for marketing or AI advertising, this means that a growing range of tasks can now be accomplished directly with GPT, without needing additional tools.
The Business Model Risk for AI Startups
If your AI product is just a wrapper around GPT, you are at risk of being outpaced as GPT’s native features expand. The platform will continue to improve its integrations and multimodal understanding, which means many AI agent startups will find themselves obsolete.
How to Build a Durable AI Business
To survive and thrive, AI startups need to focus on creating unique value:
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Proprietary data: Develop products using exclusive datasets, such as specialized medical or legal information.
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Workflow integration: Embed your solutions into essential business tools like Salesforce or Jira.
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Trust and governance: Offer auditability, compliance, and data residency, especially in regulated sectors like healthcare or finance.
Why Learning Prompting Is Key for Professionals
For individuals in fields like design, marketing, or development, the best move is not to chase the latest “AI productivity app.” Instead, it’s time to learn how to prompt AI models effectively.
Mastering AI Prompting
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Understand how to design complex reasoning chains.
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Learn how to format inputs for better precision and clarity.
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Work with multimodal prompts that involve both text and images.
Mastering AI prompting will give you far more power than relying on a single “agent” or tool.
Conclusion: The Platform Will Win
In the evolving landscape of AI, the long-term trend is clear: the platform always wins. Major players like OpenAI, Google DeepMind, and Meta are racing to improve their core AI models, and as they do, many AI startup solutions will be absorbed into these larger platforms.
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The best AI solutions will provide unique, irreplaceable value, while many lightweight apps will fade away, just like early web tools or mobile apps did.
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If you’re building with AI today, focus on deeper, more integrated solutions. If you’re using AI, learn how to master prompting. And if you’re watching the evolution of AI, get ready: the platform wars are just beginning.
