Companies are pouring money into AI tools, but a warning is spreading that they may be funding their own future rivals.

• Businesses pay big subscription fees for AI whose actual payoff is hard to measure.
• The real fear: your company's data, processes, and trade secrets flow through these AI models as you use them.
• Once an AI provider learns from your business, it could turn around and compete with you directly.
• The worry got louder after Anthropic rolled out a design tool while working alongside design company Figma.
• The blunt take: you pay a vendor millions a year and end up training your own replacement.

Outlook: Expect more companies to grow cautious about handing sensitive data to outside AI vendors, and to push for stronger walls around their information.