{"id":672718,"date":"2025-05-31T05:05:19","date_gmt":"2025-05-31T02:05:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/its-part-of-a-troubling-trend-in-big-tech\/"},"modified":"2025-05-31T05:05:19","modified_gmt":"2025-05-31T02:05:19","slug":"its-part-of-a-troubling-trend-in-big-tech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/its-part-of-a-troubling-trend-in-big-tech\/","title":{"rendered":"It&#8217;s part of a troubling trend in big tech"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3b59a51d526\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3b59a51d526\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/its-part-of-a-troubling-trend-in-big-tech\/#The_AI_%E2%80%98tech_stack\" >The AI &#8216;tech stack&#8217;<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/its-part-of-a-troubling-trend-in-big-tech\/#Fueling_power_imbalances\" >Fueling power imbalances<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/its-part-of-a-troubling-trend-in-big-tech\/#The_vulnerabilities_of_vertical_integration\" >The vulnerabilities of vertical integration<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"article-gallery lightGallery\">\n<div data-thumb=\"https:\/\/scx1.b-cdn.net\/csz\/news\/tmb\/2021\/drgoogle.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/scx2.b-cdn.net\/gfx\/news\/hires\/2021\/drgoogle.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Credit: Unsplash\/CC0 Public Domain\">\n<figure class=\"article-img\">\n            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/scx1.b-cdn.net\/csz\/news\/800a\/2021\/drgoogle.jpg\" alt=\"Google\" title=\"Credit: Unsplash\/CC0 Public Domain\" width=\"800\" height=\"530\"\/><figcaption class=\"text-darken text-low-up text-truncate-js text-truncate mt-3\">\n                Credit: Unsplash\/CC0 Public Domain<br \/>\n            <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Google recently <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.google\/products\/search\/google-search-ai-mode-update\/\" target=\"_blank\">unveiled the next phase<\/a> of its artificial intelligence (AI) journey: &#8220;AI mode&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>This new feature will soon be released as a new option to users of Google&#8217;s search engine in the United States, with no timeline yet for the rest of the world. The company says it will be <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/technology\/2025\/may\/20\/google-ai-mode-search-engine-developers-conference\" target=\"_blank\">akin to having a conversation<\/a> with an expert well versed on a wide range of topics.<\/p>\n<p>This is just one of <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.channelnews.com.au\/google-search-gets-smarter-with-ai-mode\/\" target=\"_blank\">many steps<\/a> Google is taking in pursuit of its &#8220;all-in&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>roach to AI.<\/p>\n<p>The &#8220;all-in&#8221; approach extends beyond just integrating the <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/technology\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"4\" title=\"Technology\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">technology<\/a> into different applications. Google is providing products all along the AI supply chain\u2014a process known as &#8220;vertical integration&#8221;\u2014housing everything from AI computer chips through to the user interfaces we interact with on a daily basis, such as Google maps or Gmail.<\/p>\n<p>Google isn&#8217;t the only AI company with ambitions of vertical integration. For example, OpenAI recently <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.neowin.net\/news\/jony-ive-and-openai-deal-has-raised-alarms-for-apple\/#google_vignette\" target=\"_blank\">acquired a hardware startup co-founded by Apple&#8217;s Jony Ive<\/a>, which will centralize hardware development within the company. <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/spectrum.ieee.org\/amazon-ai\" target=\"_blank\">Amazon is taking similar steps<\/a>. It owns cloud computing platforms, custom chips, device plans and is incorporating more AI services into products.<\/p>\n<p>This may be the beginning of a trend of vertical integration across big tech. And it could have significant implications for users and companies alike.<\/p>\n<p>                                                                                                        <!-- TechX - News - In-article --><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_AI_%E2%80%98tech_stack\"><\/span>The AI &#8216;tech stack&#8217;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Hardware, software, data sources, databases and servers are some of the layers that make up what is commonly referred to as the &#8220;AI tech stack&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>There are four main layers to <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/anshadameenza.com\/blog\/technology\/google-vertical-ai-integration\/\" target=\"_blank\">Google&#8217;s evolving vertical tech stack<\/a>:<\/p>\n<p><b>1. Hardware layer<\/b>. <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/cloud.google.com\/tpu\" target=\"_blank\">Google develops its own AI chips<\/a>, known as tensor processing units (TPUs). The company claims these chips provide superior performance and efficiency compared to <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/general\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"3\" title=\"General\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">general<\/a>-purpose processors.<\/p>\n<p><b>2. Infrastructure layer<\/b>. The company uses its <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/cloud.google.com\/infrastructure\" target=\"_blank\">own cloud infrastructure<\/a> to source its computing power, networking and storage requirements. This infrastructure is the foundation for running and scaling AI capabilities.<\/p>\n<p><b>3. Model development layer<\/b>. In-house research capabilities are used to drive the development of their products and services. This includes research around machine learning, robotics, language models and computer vision.<\/p>\n<p><b>4. Data layer<\/b>. Data is constantly sourced from users across all Google platforms, including its search engine, maps and email. Data collection is a condition of using any Google application.<\/p>\n<p>Some argue vertical integration is an <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/evboosters.com\/ev-charging-news\/the-blueprint-of-an-ev-empire-how-byd-built-global-dominance-through-vertical-integration\/\" target=\"_blank\">optimal and cost-effective business strategy<\/a> in many industries, not just tech. However, the realities of this set-up prove otherwise.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Fueling_power_imbalances\"><\/span>Fueling power imbalances<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Google and OpenAI are two of just a handful of companies which dominate the global technology market.<\/p>\n<p>Thanks to this market dominance, <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/why-are-apple-amazon-google-and-meta-facing-antitrust-lawsuits-and-huge-fines-and-will-it-protect-consumers-221501\" target=\"_blank\">these companies can charge higher markups<\/a> for their goods and services and abuse practices in online advertising.<\/p>\n<p>Vertical integration further skews this power imbalance by centralizing the layers of the AI tech stack to one company. A distribution of hardware, infrastructure, research and development and data across multiple industries <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/mitpress.mit.edu\/9780262548748\/tech-monopoly\/\" target=\"_blank\">helps support a more equitable playing field across the industry<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The loss of this equity creates greater barriers to entry for smaller companies as the larger conglomerates keep everything in-house.<\/p>\n<p>It also reduces incentives to innovate in ways that benefit consumers because it <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/publicaccountant.com.au\/features\/a-lack-of-competition-is-hurting-consumers-and-the-economy-2\/\" target=\"_blank\">eliminates the business competition that usually drives innovation<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Data is often <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/councils\/forbestechcouncil\/2023\/03\/27\/how-to-make-use-of-the-new-gold-data\/\" target=\"_blank\">described<\/a> as the new gold. This is especially true in the case of AI, which is heavily reliant on data. Through its many platforms, Google has access to a continuous stream of data. In turn, this gives the company <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/abs\/10.1177\/0003603X20934212\" target=\"_blank\">even more power<\/a> in the industry.<\/p>\n<p>                                                                                                        <!-- TechX - News - In-article --><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_vulnerabilities_of_vertical_integration\"><\/span>The vulnerabilities of vertical integration<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The success of a company that is vertically integrated relies on housing the best knowledge and expertise in-house. Retaining this level of resourcing within a small handful of companies can lead to knowledge and expertise hoarding.<\/p>\n<p>Research shows knowledge and expertise hoarding <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.parisschoolofeconomics.eu\/app\/uploads\/2025\/01\/LC_JMP_knowledge-hoarding.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">reduces social learning and increases disparities between &#8220;winners&#8221; and &#8220;losers&#8221;<\/a> in a given market. This creates an overall vulnerable industry, because net gains are lost in the pursuit of exclusivity.<\/p>\n<p>Exclusivity also breeds a lack of resilience. That&#8217;s because the points of failure are centralized.<\/p>\n<p>Risk is <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.proquest.com\/openview\/4c80d5673456160e63df25bb2ab6b1c9\/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&amp;cbl=32048\" target=\"_blank\">better managed<\/a> with additional oversight, transparency and accountability. Collaborations across industry rely on these processes to work together effectively.<\/p>\n<p>Centralizing the AI tech stack within one organization eliminates external scrutiny, because it reduces interactions with external providers of products and services. In turn, this can lead to a company behaving in a more risky manner.<\/p>\n<p>Regulatory bodies can also provide external scrutiny.<\/p>\n<p>However, the current <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/news\/privacy-technology\/trumps-efforts-to-dismantle-ai-protections-explained\" target=\"_blank\">push to deregulate AI<\/a> is widening the gap between technology development and regulation.<\/p>\n<p>It is also allowing for big tech companies to become increasingly opaque. A lack of transparency raises issues about organizational practices; in the context of AI, <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.fastcompany.com\/91336284\/us-tech-firms-earn-dismal-grades-on-human-rights-report-card&amp;sa=D&amp;source=docs&amp;ust=1748333267543284&amp;usg=AOvVaw2sZA0xMMmP3oevPhqaHFp_\" target=\"_blank\">practices around data are of particular concern<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The trend towards vertical integration in the AI sector will further increase this opacity and heighten existing issues around transparency.<\/p>\n<div class=\"d-inline-block text-medium my-4\">\n                                                Provided by<br \/>\n                                                                                                    The Conversation<br \/>\n                                                    \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"icon_open\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<svg>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<use href=\"https:\/\/techx.b-cdn.net\/tmpl\/v2\/img\/svg\/sprite.svg#icon_open\" x=\"0\" y=\"0\"\/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/svg><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"article-main__note mt-4\">\n                                                This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/counter.theconversation.com\/content\/257563\/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-advanced\" alt=\"The Conversation\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\"\/>\n                                            <\/p>\n<p>                                        <!-- print only --><\/p>\n<div class=\"d-none d-print-block\">\n<p>\n                                                <strong>Citation<\/strong>:<br \/>\n                                                Google is going &#8216;all in&#8217; on AI: It&#8217;s part of a troubling trend in big tech (2025, May 30)<br \/>\n                                                retrieved 30 May 2025<br \/>\n                                                from https:\/\/techxplore.com\/<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news<\/a>\/2025-05-google-ai-trend-big-tech.html\n                                            <\/p>\n<p>\n                                            This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no<br \/>\n                                            part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.\n                                            <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script id=\"facebook-jssdk\" async=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/sdk.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMN63nwsw68G3Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more Like this articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/category\/sciencee\/\" target=\"_blank\" >Science category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/techxplore.com\/news\/2025-05-google-ai-trend-big-tech.html\" target=\"_blank\" >Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Credit: Unsplash\/CC0 Public Domain Google recently unveiled the next phase of its artificial intelligence (AI) journey: &#8220;AI mode&#8221;. This new feature will soon be released as a new option to users of Google&#8217;s search engine in the United States, with no timeline yet for the rest of the world. The company says it will be&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":672719,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/scx2.b-cdn.net\/gfx\/news\/hires\/2021\/drgoogle.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-672718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sciencee"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/672718","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=672718"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/672718\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/672719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=672718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=672718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=672718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}