Post by Nathan Delacrétaz, Ph.D.

This short piece in The Economist on why Anthropic and OpenAI are restricting access to their latest models is really clever to get the whole picture. The safety argument gets most of the attention and is likely legitimate. Yet, the economics underneath deserve just as much scrutiny. What makes the strategy so good is that it works either way. If the risk is real: you are being responsible. If it is overstated: you are being brilliant. Either way, you win, and that is rare positioning. I would add on top of The Economist's analysis that this playbook is so good it will definitely be played again. You build the most capable model, then show how dangerous it is. Then you create an exclusive club of companies who get access. In one move, you create the fear and are the answer. That is textbook marketing and communication. What makes it especially compelling is the context. These are VC-backed companies, massively capitalized, with IPOs potentially on the horizon. When you are building your ARR story, controlled scarcity is both the safety measure and the growth strategy. The restricted access signals capability better than any benchmark, which is reinforced by premium pricing, and the leaks (voluntary or not) generate exactly the right kind of attention. The reaction tells you everything. America's Treasury Secretary and the Fed Chair having meetings on this shows how perfect the shot is. More than a cybersecurity response, that is exclusivity economics at work. Scarcity creates desire, desire creates willingness to pay, and willingness to pay at that level makes your next capital raise and pricing a lot more comfortable. I would love to see what some institutions are actually ready to pay to get through that door. The playbook is as old as luxury goods, just applied to intelligence. The communication is well tailored and whoever is running it (with Mythos in the backseat) deserves tons of credit for playing such good economics. The Economist analysis: https://lnkd.in/eeQc5ig5 #AI #Mythos #Anthropic #GrowthMarketing #Cybersecurity