"seems like baking models into silicon is speed-running obsolescence"

Now maybe. When models are flying passenger aircraft, other prerogatives will assert themselves. When a 50TB ROM means you can impulse purchase a ChatGPT 6.3 xhigh that runs on batteries, yet more use cases will be apparent.

Well, 50TB ROM Taalas HC1 style would be apparently a 400000b transistor system through a chip sized 2.5 meters on the side... :)