AI frontier closes, power consolidates

Verma provides a compelling historical framework for the "moatification" of AI, where the gap between frontier models and open alternatives is widening into a permanent class divide. Capital-intensive training on H100/B200 clusters has turned state-of-the-art AI into a game only the "mega-rich" can play, while the shift from local execution to API-only access fundamentally changes the power dynamic between developers and model providers. Historical precedent suggests that "closed frontiers" lead to a shift from exploration to consolidation, serving as a warning that the "Golden Age" of open AI experimentation may be a fleeting historical anomaly.