Open source development might just be the pressure valve that deflates the current AI hype cycle. When source code goes public, barriers crumble—competition intensifies, margins compress, and inflated valuations face hard reality checks. We've seen this pattern before: the early web2 boom got grounded once open standards took off. The difference? This time, billions are riding on proprietary black boxes. Once truly open alternatives mature and prove competitive, the narrative around "AI exceptionalism" loses its mystique. The bubble doesn't vanish overnight, but the timeline accelerates when technology commoditizes faster than market expectations shift.