If there's efforts to build vendor lock in, it's going to be in the surrounding api, whether it's streaming responses, or this weird prediction thing, or temperature settings, seeds, stuff like that.
And even then, competitors can copy the interface because interfaces are not copyrightable.
And like Web 2.0 I’m sure the day will come where the walled gardens return. All the old SaaS companies are starting to charge for agentic access. Proportionally more of the AI budget will go to them instead of the model providers, who are still stuck in this price war
That shorthand rule of thumb is often applicable, but can lead to risky / incorrect assumptions.
The central distinction isn't simply interface versus implementation. It's functional systems and constraints versus protectable expression - a distinction that can cut through both an interface and its implementation.
It would be like patenting a philips screwdriver or screw.