In the AI boom, how are you mitigating third-party API dependence?

Question

I assume no one is since there is not a viable alternative. But, in the past, there have been threads around concerns of building businesses on third-party APIs. The core idea was, what happens if API access is suddenly cut off or degrades? What if the third-party changes their pricing or terms of service without sufficient warning?We are clearly in an AI gold rush and there is a surge of startups building their operations heavily reliant on third-party APIs (mainly OpenAI). It feels like the earlier concerns have gone out the window, probably due to the urgency to be first. I totally get it and have been working on my personal projects too, just wondering what happens if access it shut off.I guess my question is, how are you mitigating these risks today? I have been wondering and I guess curious about strategies, experiences, and any advice. Maybe we'll see some competition from Google if they open up their APIs.

matt_s · Accepted Answer

If you are talking about technical dependence, implement an internal abstraction over those API's so you can change vendors without a lot of technical churn. Make it modular.
If a business starting up is 90-100% dependent on a single supplier for a key part of their product and you are one of hundreds of their customers, then you can't mitigate that. Its just not a good business model. Maybe the outcome is to exit first in that scenario, essentially passing the dependence onto someone else while you walk away with bags of money.
So from a business perspective: don't put all your gold rush eggs in one basket? Sell shovels?