When everyone’s smart, the winner is the one who listens
AI platforms are hitting a weird kind of plateau. Everyone’s flexing bigger context windows, multimodal inputs, fancy integrations. Cool. Necessary. But let’s be honest—ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude all basically pass the same tests now. Obviously, some are marginally stronger in one area over another, but the tech race is starting to blur.
So what separates them?
Not compute. Not model size. Not swagger.
The real differentiator—especially for the next wave of adoption—is user loyalty. And loyalty doesn’t come from capability. It comes from responsiveness.
Let me explain.
I learned this the hard way (and so did a few billion-dollar companies)
Back when I worked in the tech space, I watched Xiaomi wipe the floor with more established players—not because they had better processors or prettier logos, but because they understood the game: build with your fans, not just for them.
Xiaomi updated its operating system weekly based on user feedback. They treated their forums like R&D labs. Their launch events looked more like fan conventions than product briefings. They built loyalty like it was a software feature—and it worked. At one point, they were adding millions of users per month while competitors debated their next quarterly roadmap.
I never forgot that lesson. Especially now, as the AI space starts to resemble that same fork in the road.
Claude’s in the race. But is it building a fanbase?
Let me get this out of the way: I really like Claude. I rely on it almost daily for creative ideation. It helps me see blind spots, punch up content, and clarify complex thoughts. But here’s where I think Claude (and Anthropic) could pull ahead: not by trying to out-model OpenAI or out-hype Google—but by out-listening them. The fastest path to dominance isn’t horsepower. It’s humility.
Right now, Claude is good. But what would make it loved?
Where the major models still stumble
And this has already started; some of the biggest feature requests are already getting addressed. Claude now has web search. Custom styles exist. Integrations with Google Workspace are live. But the loyalty gap isn’t about missing one killer feature. It’s about the vibe. The responsiveness. The sense that the product evolves because of you—not in spite of you.
Here’s what users are still pointing to:
1. Chat Management Still Feels Like 2019
Give us tagging, search, branching, and version control. If I’m having ten different threads about ten different topics, I need to be able to find, track, and remix them without opening 50 tabs and praying.
2. The Integrations Are Fine, But Not Fluid
Yes, Claude talks to your calendar and email now. But where’s the seamless sync with tools like Notion, Asana, Airtable, or Slack? Users don’t want their LLM to “integrate.” They want it to live in their workflow.
3. Custom Styles Are a Step Forward, But Still Feel… Beta
The idea is great. Upload a writing sample, define your tone, get responses in your voice. But right now it feels like Claude’s impersonating your voice, not inhabiting it. We want brand-level calibration—like “always write like my creative director after three espressos.”
4. No One Knows What’s Coming Next
Anthropic is famously cautious. That’s fine. But the trade-off is a foggy product roadmap. And when users feel like they’re shouting into the void, they start whispering elsewhere.
The Xiaomi Playbook, Applied
What made Xiaomi different wasn’t just speed. It was participation. They didn’t just release features—they created rituals around feedback.
Anthropic could build something similar:
- Weekly Claude Changelogs—not just bug fixes, but small feature bets driven by community votes
- Claude Labs—where experimental features drop early for power users who opt in
- Public Trello Board—make the roadmap collaborative, not mysterious
- Feature Credits—recognize users whose suggestions get shipped (yes, even with silly badges—we’re all still human)
Would any of these cost less than a fraction of Anthropic’s AWS bill? Yep. Would they generate 10x more trust and loyalty? Absolutely.
Final Thought: Claude doesn’t need to be everything
In a few years, most of these LLMs will be functionally indistinguishable to the average user. That’s the nature of platform convergence.
So how do you win?
Not with scale. With stance.
Claude has a shot to position itself not just as the “safe” model—but as the one that actually gives a damn. That listens faster. That makes its users feel heard, not herded.
Because in the end, the strongest moat isn’t data or funding.
It’s belief.