Interesting points.

1. Expanding in more detail, my feeling (absent correct truth obviously) is that we'll find a Pareto Optimal point of intelligence. At that point my feeling, again unproven, is that with available hardware fine tuning open weight models would not be too difficult.

Training from scratch? I'm really not sure that's something an individual can do. But at some pareto optimal point I do think small organizations can train models.

I'm okay with that threshold. This world I envision is like today's open software which runs on closed hardware or interacts with closed systems like networks that use proprietary hardware.

2. I'm not sure the tendency to convert everything into financial capital is as all subsuming as folks like Doctorow make it out to be. The sentiment certainly drives engagement among a certain demographic, usually a college educated progressive one, but while I see evidence of its truth in some spaces I don't in many others. PCs are a good example. PCs continue to offer more functionality to the end user. Despite endless avenue to lock down and monetize the idea of a PC, it doesn't happen. Firms like Apple and Lenovo remain fairly committed to offering strong consumer experiences.

I suspect this sort of financialization is more prevalent for services or goods that are difficult to meter. Search is a great example.