> Can someone explain to me why people are excited about WebGPU and WASM and similar technologies?

WebAssembly brings all languages to the browser. Why shouldn't I be able to use C#, Rust, Go, Dart, Python, or whatever else in browser?

WebAssembly brings better performance. That's what Webamp found: https://jordaneldredge.com/blog/speeding-up-winamps-music-vi...

And what Amazon found: https://www.amazon.science/blog/how-prime-video-updates-its-...

And what Google found: https://web.dev/case-studies/google-sheets-wasmgc

Why make things perform worse when they can perform better?

Why shouldn't I be able to make an application that compiles to the Windows, macOS, and Linux desktops and also to the browser? This one does: https://bandysc.github.io/AvaloniaVisualBasic6/

> WebAssembly brings all languages to the browser. Why shouldn't I be able to use C#, Rust, Go, Dart, Python, or whatever else in browser?

This has zero end-user benefit. While having the end-user drawbacks gp mentioned (reduced ability to inspect and modify content).

> WebAssembly brings better performance.

Wirth's law says "hold my beer".