4 ms·

Anthropic is building moat around theirs models with claude code, Agent SDK, containers, programmatic tool use, tool search, skills and more. Once you fully int

by Chyzwar 9mo ago

Anthropic is building moat around theirs models with claude code, Agent SDK, containers, programmatic tool use, tool search, skills and more. Once you fully integrate you will not switch. Also being capital intensive is a form of moat. I think we will end up with market similar to cloud computing. Few big players with great margins creating cartel.

mhuffman 9mo ago
>Anthropic is building moat around theirs models with claude code, Agent SDK, containers, programmatic tool use, tool search, skills and more. I think this is something the other big players could replicate rapidly, even simulating the exact UI, interactions, importing/exporting existing items, etc. that people are used to with claude products. I don't think this is that big of a moat in the long run. Other big players just seem to be carving up the landscape and see where they can can fit in for now, but once resource rich eyes focus on them, Anthropic's "moat" will disappear.
iLoveOncall 9mo ago
A GPT wrapper isn't a moat.
- bogdan 9mo ago
  Most things are wrappers around RDBMSs.
  - blinding-streak 9mo ago
    Most true and interesting comment I've read on HN in a while!
- visarga 9mo ago
  A generic wrapper is not a moat, but the context is. Both the LLM provider and the wrapper provider depend on local context for task activities. The value flows to the context, the LLMs and wrappers are commodities. Who sets the prompts stands to benefit, not who serves AI services.
mupuff1234 9mo ago
All those features are basically prompts in various formats, not much of a moat.
atombender 9mo ago
I thought that, too, but lately I've been using OpenCode with Claude Opus, rather than Claude Code, and have been loving it. OpenCode has LSPs out of the box (coming to Claude Code, but not there yet), has a more extensive UI (e.g. sidebar showing pending todos), allows me to switch models mid-chat, has a desktop app (Electron-type wrapper, sure, but nevertheless, desktop; and it syncs with the TUI/web versions so you can use both at the same time), and so on. So far I like it better, so for me that moat isn't that. The technical moat is still the superiority of the model, and others are bound to catch up there. Gemini 3 Preview is already doing better at some tasks (but frequently goes insane, sadly).
- jghn 9mo ago
  > coming to Claude Code, but not there yet Wasn't this released a couple of weeks ago?
  - atombender 9mo ago
    It was added in 2.0.74 according to the changelog, but it's not functional: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46357036 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46357036. I've certainly not been able to use it.
    - jghn 9mo ago
      Good call. Looks like there's at least a user submitted workaround now [1] [1] https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/14803#issuecomment-3700837028 https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/14803#issue...
  - atombender 9mo ago
    Also: Claude has already asked me several times the last few days if I want to install an LSP for various things. I've not seen any signs of LSP use yet.
- dbbk 9mo ago
  Does OpenCode work with their subscription Max plan or is it API pricing only?
croes 9mo ago
If AI is capable of doing what they claim then these aren‘t moats because they are just one prompt away from being replicated.
eikenberry 9mo ago
Except most of their product line is oriented towards software development which has historically been dominated by free software. I don't see developers moving away from this tendency and IMO Anthropic will find themselves in a similar position to JetBrains soon enough (profitable, but niche)... assuming things pan out as you describe.

by Chyzwar 9mo ago

mhuffman 9mo ago

>Anthropic is building moat around theirs models with claude code, Agent SDK, containers, programmatic tool use, tool search, skills and more. I think this is something the other big players could replicate rapidly, even simulating the exact UI, interactions, importing/exporting existing items, etc. that people are used to with claude products. I don't think this is that big of a moat in the long run. Other big players just seem to be carving up the landscape and see where they can can fit in for now, but once resource rich eyes focus on them, Anthropic's "moat" will disappear.

iLoveOncall 9mo ago

A GPT wrapper isn't a moat.

bogdan 9mo ago
Most things are wrappers around RDBMSs.
- blinding-streak 9mo ago
  Most true and interesting comment I've read on HN in a while!
visarga 9mo ago
A generic wrapper is not a moat, but the context is. Both the LLM provider and the wrapper provider depend on local context for task activities. The value flows to the context, the LLMs and wrappers are commodities. Who sets the prompts stands to benefit, not who serves AI services.

mupuff1234 9mo ago

All those features are basically prompts in various formats, not much of a moat.

atombender 9mo ago

I thought that, too, but lately I've been using OpenCode with Claude Opus, rather than Claude Code, and have been loving it. OpenCode has LSPs out of the box (coming to Claude Code, but not there yet), has a more extensive UI (e.g. sidebar showing pending todos), allows me to switch models mid-chat, has a desktop app (Electron-type wrapper, sure, but nevertheless, desktop; and it syncs with the TUI/web versions so you can use both at the same time), and so on. So far I like it better, so for me that moat isn't that. The technical moat is still the superiority of the model, and others are bound to catch up there. Gemini 3 Preview is already doing better at some tasks (but frequently goes insane, sadly).

jghn 9mo ago
> coming to Claude Code, but not there yet Wasn't this released a couple of weeks ago?
- atombender 9mo ago
  It was added in 2.0.74 according to the changelog, but it's not functional: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46357036 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46357036. I've certainly not been able to use it.
  - jghn 9mo ago
    Good call. Looks like there's at least a user submitted workaround now [1] [1] https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/14803#issuecomment-3700837028 https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/14803#issue...
- atombender 9mo ago
  Also: Claude has already asked me several times the last few days if I want to install an LSP for various things. I've not seen any signs of LSP use yet.
dbbk 9mo ago
Does OpenCode work with their subscription Max plan or is it API pricing only?

croes 9mo ago

If AI is capable of doing what they claim then these aren‘t moats because they are just one prompt away from being replicated.

eikenberry 9mo ago

Except most of their product line is oriented towards software development which has historically been dominated by free software. I don't see developers moving away from this tendency and IMO Anthropic will find themselves in a similar position to JetBrains soon enough (profitable, but niche)... assuming things pan out as you describe.