Aggregator's AI Risk

The internet enables Aggregators to shift the chokepoint in the value chain from supply to demand. The monopolies of the 20th centuries - U.S. Steel, Standard Oil, American Tobacco - exerted power through their control of supply. The largest companies in the 21st century are winning by first controlling demand, and using the strength and scale of t... See more

This is one key insight in Ben Thompson’s famous Aggregation Theory: modern marketplaces get their power from aggregating the demand side. And that’s a much better position than the old way of trying to own the supply side.