Two Bridges to the Same Place: Why the AI Model Race Proves the Model Doesn't Matter

The competition between frontier AI labs is itself the proof that the model layer is commoditising. The labs matching each other in compressed timeframes, the platform owners building model-agnostic infrastructure, and open-weight models closing the gap from below. These three convergence forces reproduce the structural pattern of the browser war, where the winner didn't get to keep the winnings.