According to Soumith Chintala (@soumithchintala), FFmpeg, a cornerstone open source project widely used in AI video processing pipelines, has generated billions of dollars in economic value yet captured almost none as funding. Chintala highlights that FFmpeg's developers are clear: substantial development requires real financial support, not just feature requests (Source: @soumithchintala, Twitter, Nov 4, 2025). This situation underscores an ongoing challenge in the AI and tech ecosystem, where foundational tools underpinning machine learning, data processing, and media workflows often lack sustainable funding models. For AI businesses, this presents a market opportunity to support and perhaps commercialize essential open source infrastructure, ensuring long-term innovation and reliability for enterprise applications.