Cheap open-weight AI models are quietly shifting the advantage to software companies, which is good news for stocks like Salesforce, Palantir, and ServiceNow.

• Open-weight AI models are far cheaper to run than paying OpenAI or Anthropic, so software companies keep more profit.
• ServiceNow has been complaining about rising AI costs — cheaper models fix exactly that problem.
• Customers stay locked in because rebuilt-from-scratch tools can't match years of fine-tuned, integrated software.
• Big Wall Street research (Bloomberg Intelligence) is now backing this same view, meaning the trade is getting crowded.

Outlook: After two years of fearing AI would kill software, the market is flipping bullish on software stocks, which could keep pushing them higher.