It seems like pre-IPO companies need to balance "cost" vs. "optics" and it's one of the metrics they optimize.

So, launch at an "exceptional" state and then cut costs after some time following the release, then repeat to make it appear like lots of advancement is happening.

I have zero evidence. But anecdotally (and working with Claude every day) I see wild swings in Opus/Fables abilities day to day. It really does feel like they are twiddling knobs behind the scenes and hoping no one notices.