TheProfitable AI Is a Coding | 매거진에 참여하세요

Why everyone—OpenAI, Google, Anthropic—is betting on developer tools

When generative AI first took the spotlight, the flashiest demos were all about images and videos.

Tools like DALL·E, Midjourney, Runway, and Pika went viral for turning prompts into stunning visuals and cinematic clips.

But here’s the inconvenient truth no one wants to say out loud:

“They look amazing, but they don’t make money.”

The Harsh Reality of Visual AI

Let’s break it down:

• - Most users stick to the free tier.

• - Enterprise clients hesitate due to legal risks and clunky workflow integrations.

• - Repeat usage is low, making paid subscriptions hard to sustain.

• Meanwhile, GPU costs are high and revenue is low.

It's a losing equation. Impressive tech with no solid business model.

And Then There’s Code

Coding tools, on the other hand, are a different story entirely.
They’re text-based (read: much cheaper to run), and their users are developers—people who are both willing and able to pay.

Here’s the kicker:

Companies would rather spend $300/month on an AI tool than hire another engineer.

That’s why platforms like Codex, Claude, Cursor, and Devin are all zeroing in on one thing: improving the coding experience.

Because it’s profitable.
Cheap to operate. High-paying customers. Easy monetization.

Cursor: The Quiet Giant

At first glance, Cursor may seem like just a GPT wrapper inside a code editor. But it’s a serious revenue machine.

• - $20/month individual subscription

• - Dedicated team/enterprise pricing

• - Add-on features like Bugbot (auto bug detection) with separate fees

• - Estimated ARR has surpassed $300M

All of this, running on text—not video, not image—makes it an extremely efficient profit engine.

OpenAI Tried to Buy Cursor

OpenAI saw this. In early 2025, they attempted to acquire Cursor’s parent company, Anysphere, for a reported $3 billion.

The talks progressed far.
But Anysphere chose independence. Legal entanglements with Microsoft’s IP didn’t help either.

In the end, the deal fell through.

Chaos ensued.

• OpenAI then tried to acquire Windsurf (Codeium)—also failed.

• Google snatched Windsurf’s core talent.

• The rest was absorbed by Cognition, makers of Devin.

So yes, we are witnessing:

“Big Tech is fighting over one coding tool.”

Claude: The Code Whisperer

Meanwhile, Claude 3 by Anthropic has been quietly winning developers over—not for code generation,

but for code understanding.

• - It reads.
  - It refactors.
  - It debugs thousands of lines in a single go.

Real developers say:

“Claude understood code that I couldn’t.”

Unsurprisingly, Claude is now heavily monetizing coding features:

• Claude Pro/Team Plans

• API sales plus enterprise-focused offerings

Anthropic, too, has realized the truth:

Coding tools are where the money is.

So… Why Are They All Chasing Code?

Simple:

🖼 Image and video generation → High cost, low return
💻 Code tools → Low cost, high return

So what’s happening now?

• - Cursor is already profitable.

• - Claude is expanding code capabilities.

• - OpenAI is scrambling to buy or build.

• - Google is hiring away top talent.

• - Cognition bought an entire company to power Devin.

Everyone’s coming to the same conclusion:

In AI, code is the only thing that prints money.