A New Taxonomy for Model Companies
ben_burtenshaw · x · 2026-07-12
The author proposes a 2026 working taxonomy for "model shops," categorizing them by their current stage and business model rather than relying on outdated terms like "pre-product." The proposed stages include: - pre-blog post: Just announced, but no non-trivial research content yet. - pre-lab: Producing strong blog content, but unclear if it's a true lab. - pre-model: Looks impressive, but uncertain if the outcome will be models, products, or just more articles. - pre-rsi: Delivering usable outputs, but unclear if the end result is the system itself or what it generates. - pre-cloud: Has models, blogs, and does RSI, but uncertain if it will evolve into a cloud provider. The author emphasizes that these stages aren't strictly linear; there can be significant overlap between labs, RSI teams, and cloud providers.
Related event: New Classification Framework for 2026 AI Model Companies(2 posts)→
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