ARTICLES

The Rise of the Application Layer in Artificial Intelligence

In recent years, the biggest breakthrough in artificial intelligence has occurred at the foundation layer, driven by the widespread adoption of large language models (LLMs). While players such as OpenAI, Anthropic, and Mistral have taken the lead in the model race, investor interest has increasingly shifted toward the application layer. This is because model development requires vast capital and access to a limited talent pool, pushing investment decisions toward applications that are more scalable, easier to test, and hold greater potential for differentiation.