If you do store your data, like me, in iCloud and Apple Photos then you should still take a backup.
The easiest way to do this to request a data export of all your Apple data. It’s then prepared into zip files you can download onto a local storage device.
I do it about once a year, which for me is a reasonable balance between risk and impact.
Here’s a guide: https://www.macrumors.com/how-to/get-a-copy-of-your-apple-account-data/
Don’t the airlines already handover manifests to CBP anyway?
I’m old enough to remember the days before the Apache web server and OpenSSH. If you wanted to run these services you were forking out for licenses. Obviously the open source alternatives won out, who would even think of paying for a web server these days?
I expect the same will happen again. Businesses who are capable of investing in their own inference compute will run the, already probably good enough, open weights.
This will become more and more likely as the big players finally run out of investor cash to subside their services and inevitably raise prices, making self hosting more and more appealing.
At least they don’t have a merger they’re trying to get through, also giving away tax payer dollars is much harder than a corpo just bending the knee.