Products that were widely said to be killed by an AI release, and what actually happened. Every verdict follows the published rules and shows its evidence.
People said GPT-4o would kill
GPT-4o could handle natural voice conversations on a phone, so people asked why they would pay for a separate screenless AI device.
Shut down 28 Feb 2025 · closed 28 Feb 2025
And it already looks like the GPT-4o and Gemini features coming to phones and the web are ready to kill devices like the Ai Pin and the r1.BGR
People said ChatGPT would kill
ChatGPT could answer students' homework questions too, so analysts asked whether students would stop paying for Chegg's homework help.
Revenue down 40% year on year · Nov 2026
ChatGPT could theoretically eat into its subscriber base if its answers prove to be as accurate and helpful as Chegg's.Business Insider (via Yahoo Finance UK)
People said ChatGPT would kill
Developers were turning to ChatGPT for coding help, and traffic estimates showed Stack Overflow visits falling after it launched.
Cut about 28% of staff · Oct 2023
Developers seem to be ditching StackOverflow since ChatGPT launch, stats showTechCabal
People said Sora 2 and the Sora app would kill
Sora 2 made realistic video from a short text prompt, so analysts asked whether people would still need Adobe's more complex video tools.
Record revenue, up 13% · Sept 2026
Sora 2 consolidates quality, controllability, audio, and distribution - four core dimensions Adobe depends upon for survival.Tiger Brokers (Stock News)
People said GPT-4o would kill
GPT-4o was shown translating speech in real time and helping people learn, so writers suggested apps like Duolingo could become unnecessary.
Daily users up 29% · Nov 2026
When you think of OpenAI's competitors, Duolingo probably isn't the first to come to mind, and yet it was seriously affected by the GPT-4o announcement.Android Central
People said ChatGPT would kill
ChatGPT answered questions directly in conversation, so people wondered whether chatbots could replace the list of links that Google Search shows.
Search revenue up 12% year on year · Oct 2026
Google's chief Sundar Pichai reportedly directed several groups in the company to refocus their efforts to address the threat posed by ChatGPT on the company's search engine business.The Independent (via Yahoo News)
People said Anthropic launches Claude Sheets and Whiteboards would kill
Claude Sheets lets Claude build and edit spreadsheets you can share with a team, which is what many people use Google Sheets for.
For now, sheets have simple spreadsheet functionality · Nov 2026
Meanwhile, Claude Sheets is effectively an Excel and Google Sheets rival.Android Authority
People said Anthropic launches Claude Sheets and Whiteboards would kill
Claude Sheets lets Claude build and edit spreadsheets with formulas and tabs, so some people could use it instead of Excel.
For now, sheets have simple spreadsheet functionality · Nov 2026
Claude Sheets looks like the most direct threat to competitors, specifically Microsoft Excel and Google SheetsGizmodo