Monopoly Money

Source: Where’s Your Ed At Date: 2024-08-12 URL: https://www.wheresyoured.at/monopoly-money/

Summary

Ed argues that tech monopolies (Google, Meta, Apple, Microsoft) have degraded their products because they face no real competition — a company with no fear of losing customers can make products worse without consequence. The Judge Mehta ruling confirming Google violated antitrust law is a potential turning point, but Ed warns Google will fight remedies through appeals. His call to action: reduce dependence on these services now rather than waiting for government intervention.

Implications

The antitrust thread is the structural companion to the enshittification thread: monopoly is the mechanism that enables product degradation without market punishment. For AI: hyperscaler consolidation of inference infrastructure, model APIs, and enterprise contracts is monopoly formation in progress. The Google antitrust case sets precedent for whether AI market structures — exclusive deals, bundled offerings, default placements — will face similar scrutiny. Ed’s “reduce dependence” advice also applies to organizations building on a single AI provider’s API: the antitrust case confirms switching costs are a feature, not a bug, from the monopolist’s perspective.