Big Tech are the new Soviets – We're in a planned economy now (unherd.com)

Recent discussions around Big Tech's "Magnificent Seven" – Google, Meta, Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, Amazon, and Tesla – highlight a shift in economic structure reminiscent of past planned economies, particularly the Soviet Union’s Gosplan. As these companies dominate their markets, their algorithms and data-driven strategies are replacing traditional market mechanisms with a new form of "technofeudalism." This shift raises concerns over competition, employment, and the essence of capitalism itself, as the emphasis moves from fostering innovation through competition to creating monopolistic platforms that dictate both supply and demand based on proprietary data. The significance of this trend lies in how it alters economic interactions, with platforms like Amazon using algorithms to control consumer behavior and vendor visibility rather than facilitating true market exchanges. As a result, prices aren't determined by supply and demand but are strategically manipulated to maximize profits for these tech giants. This transition not only challenges the foundational principles of competitive capitalism but also fosters a dependency on these tech monopolies, mirroring the failures of past centralized economies and raising critical questions about the future of economic freedom and market dynamics in the AI/ML landscape.