Containment, China, and corporate AI bets

This period crystallized two structural problems: first, the gap between what AI systems can do and what we've built to contain them; second, the diverging strategies of Western companies toward open-source and Chinese competition. Meanwhile, the corporate AI infrastructure race is accelerating—companies are betting billions on models, gatekeeping, and homegrown systems. For product builders, the lesson is sharp: control over your AI layer is becoming competitive moat.