The prevailing narrative around artificial intelligence often oscillates between existential fears and a "winner-take-all" market frenzy. However, in a recent appearance on CNBC’s 'Squawk Box,' Barton Crockett, a Senior Research Analyst at Rosenblatt Securities, offered a more nuanced and financially grounded perspective, particularly highlighting Meta Platforms' visible return on its substantial AI investments. Crockett engaged with the CNBC host, discussing the competitive dynamics of large language models (LLMs) and the tangible economic benefits AI is already delivering to major tech players.
Crockett began by challenging the market's tendency to prematurely crown a single victor in the LLM race, noting that "the LLM benchmark horse race is likely to be a horse race." This insight pushes back against the notion that one company, like OpenAI or Google, will dominate the entire AI landscape, much like Google did with search. Instead, he suggests that the sheer volume of capital and expertise being marshaled by multiple players—including Meta and Anthropic—means that leadership in AI advancements will likely be fluid, with different entities achieving breakthroughs at various times. Google's recent Gemini 3 success, for instance, is not indicative of an everyday win, as other formidable contenders are consistently innovating.
