Definition
LLM Wrapper Trap
The LLM wrapper trap is building a thin product, model plus UI plus system prompt, that dies the moment the model provider ships your feature as a default. Browsing and summarization wrappers went this way. Wrappers that survive have deep domain expertise embedded in the product, proprietary data flywheels, complex multi-step workflows, or network effects. Build a wrapper and you rent; build a platform and you own.
Explained in
Chapter 14: The AI Landscape
Who's building what, where the value is, and where you should build.
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