E31: The AI Wars Begin: Anthropic Blocks OpenAI While Google Destroys the Game with 95% Cheaper AI

In this explosive episode of the AI Cookbook, Malcolm Werchota breaks down two seismic events that shook the AI world on August 1st, 2025. First, Anthropic locks out OpenAI from its Claude API after discovering OpenAI engineers were secretly using Claude Code to develop GPT-5 - a direct violation of terms of service. Second, Google drops MLE-STAR, an open-source AI system that can replace $200k/year Machine Learning Engineers for just $10k - a 95% cost reduction.

Malcolm exposes how European companies are dangerously behind in AI adoption (40% vs 60% in the US) and provides a urgent, actionable roadmap for businesses to leverage these technologies NOW. With his signature blend of technical insight and brutal honesty, he warns that companies who don't act within the next 6 months will be "not struggling, not difficult - DEAD."

Key Topics Covered:

• The Anthropic vs OpenAI "AI War" and what it means for API dependencies
• Why Claude 4 outperforms GPT-4 by 18% in coding tasks
• MLE-STAR: Google's game-changing ML automation tool (63.6% Kaggle medal rate vs 25.8% for humans)
• Real-world case studies: Stuttgart manufacturer saves 95% on predictive maintenance
• The "Small Company Advantage" - why NOW is the time for mid-market disruption
• Concrete 5-day action plan for immediate AI implementation

Key Takeaways:

1. Never build your core business on a competitor's API
2. MLE-STAR can replace entire ML teams at 95% lower cost
3. European companies using AI <10x daily will be obsolete in 2 years
4. The tools for AI revolution are FREE and available NOW
5. Success requires execution, not planning - "The future belongs to those with the biggest balls to DO IT!"

Resources Mentioned:

• MLE-STAR (Open Source on GitHub)
• Claude Code API
• Multi-model strategy implementation
• LinkedIn: Connect with Malcolm for results sharing