New Delhi, April 7 -- Something has changed in software. The proof is visible in the timeline. In the past, a software idea could give you a five- or 10-year head-start. Salesforce, Spotify, Facebook and even Dropbox-these were products that enjoyed long uninterrupted stretches without serious rivals. But in today's AI-led world, major innovations get copied in days or weeks, not years. A glance at the timeline-from ChatGPT to Bard, from DALL-E to Midjourney-is enough to show that the pace has fundamentally shifted.

But this piece is not about timelines. It's not even about the speed. It's about the response.

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