But.. what is it that anthropic does that cannot be replicated by open models teamed up with open source? Heck open source even has cheap AI to help write the code now.

Make new mathematical discoveries, and the security capabilities of the closed models have not yet been rivaled by open ones.

Also, just because a model is open now doesn't mean it will always be. If/when China or meta catches up to the frontier, they'll instantly go closed source. China, the biggest surveillance state in the world, would love to have all user data pouring in to its servers. It's just a business strategy, they're not doing it out of the kindness of their hearts.

The moat is money. How do you get more money? Point to your moat and ask for more money!