I would argue that the cost profile is different.
Local GPUs are a big up-front cost. But assuming that your workload is stable, in the long run I think local GPUs ends up being cheaper per-hour than cloud.
For startups, it doesn't make sense to make the up-front purchase, fine. But if you're optimizing for long-term (amortized) costs, I'd be curious if cloud is cost-effective.
Sure you could buy all that equipment but I’d wager it’s cheaper, more agile, and greater velocity from it being in the cloud