a web browser from 2008 gives u more freedom than the most advanced ai tools in 2026.

even chrome — built by google, google as default — lets u switch ur search engine. four clicks and ur on duckduckgo. been like that for nearly two decades.

now open claude cowork. open openai's codex. these tools can read ur files, draft reports, execute multi-step workflows, control ur computer while u sleep.

except they're locked to a single inference provider. cowork speaks only claude. codex speaks only gpt.

imagine chrome that only visits google.com. no settings, no alternatives, just google.com forever. that's where we're at. and ur paying monthly rent to live in it

heres is an idea for ai labs: open ur tools to competitor models.

imagine anthropic letting users point cowork at gpt or gemini. not as a gimmick — as a first-class feature. u open cowork, set up a task, pick ur inference provider. anthropic's orchestration layer becomes the browser. users choose the search engine.

what would actually happen?

most people wouldnt switch. google holds roughly 83% of desktop search. not bc they block competitors — bc they're good enough that most people never bother changing the default. if anthropic's agent tooling is genuinely better, users default to claude and never look back.

the ones who would switch? that's the most valuable signal u'll ever get. ur model is weaker for their use case. right now users just... leave. no feedback loop. no data. just churn. with an open platform, u'd know exactly where and why. live competitive intel — not thru surveillance, thru choice.

change the narrative. the ai industry is racing to build the most impressive walled garden. the company that opens theirs first rewrites the story from "who's the biggest monopolist?" to "who's the most confident?" people choose platforms. they escape cages.

the model is the engine. the agent layer is the car. u'd be insane to buy a car that only runs on one brand of gasoline.

models are commodities. the cage is the product. walk out

“Hasten slowly” - Augustus loved this one. The Greeks — well, the Romans quoting the Greeks — say: slow down. Maybe the cages open when they're ready to open, not when a newsletter tells them to

screenpi.pe — ai paparazzi recording ur screen & turning screenshot into memories

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