Software Snippets: Are Software Vendors Taking a Bite Out of IT Services?

Research evidence excerpt

Software Snippets: Are Software Vendors Taking a Bite Out of IT Services?

FoundationM4) Buy versus build? Base44 launches its own LLM (#Software, #IONOS): Base44,

an AI-centric software development platform - also known as "vibe coding" - has

launched Base 1, its own proprietary LLM. The company was acquired by Wix

(covered by Elizabeth Porter) in June 2025, which wrote in a press release this week:

"ownership of the model gives Base44 direct control over compute and inference

spend, expected to result in a structurally stronger margin profile over time". Back in

June, we wrote about French-listed cloud services provider OVH Groupe, which also

plans to train its own frontier AI models. While these examples are still anecdotal,

they point to a broader strategic question for AI-native software platforms: when

does it make sense to keep embedding third-party foundation models, and when

does proprietary data, cost control and product differentiation justify owning more

of the model layer? The improving capabilities of open-source LLMs may make this

a question more companies will consider as they embed AI into their own product

set. We have previously explored the implications of vibe coding platforms for web

presence vendors, including IONOS, in our note: A Website Is More Than A 'Vibe'.

5) Cloudflare to rein in AI crawlers (#RELX, #Wolters Kluwer, #Informa): In a world

where "automated agents and bots drive more than half of all web requests",

Cloudflare (covered by Sanjit Singh) recognises that "most site owners want to be

discoverable in AI [...] [but] maximizing discovery shouldn't mean giving away

intellectual property for free". Starting September 15th, the company has announced

that the default settings for new customers and for new sites for existing customers