At first glance, this poster looks like logos, numbers, and tech jargon.
It’s not.
It’s a map of power — showing how AI is actually turning into money, control, and influence.
PANEL 1 — MODELS (THE BRAINS)
This is where the intelligence lives.
Companies like OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and Meta are building the “brains” — the models that generate answers, write code, and reason.
Think of this like:
Engines in a car.
They matter. They’re powerful.
But here’s the twist:
Engines alone don’t win the race anymore.
Why?
Because these models are getting closer in capability.
The gap is narrowing.
So the real question becomes:
Who is delivering that intelligence to you?
PANEL 2 — CLOUD (THE PIPELINE)
This is the most important layer — and the one most people miss.
Companies like Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, and Google Cloud control how AI reaches businesses.
Think of this like:
Roads, highways, and fuel stations.
Even if someone builds the best engine,
you still need roads to drive it on.
And here’s the key insight:
Businesses don’t usually buy AI models directly.
They buy Microsoft Copilot, or AWS Bedrock, or Google Cloud AI.
So money flows like this:
User → Cloud Platform → Model Provider
Which means:
The cloud players often capture more value than the model creators.
PANEL 3 — CONTROL (THE ENDGAME)
This is where the real battle is happening.
Tools like GitHub Copilot, Perplexity AI, Notion, and Salesforce are not just using AI…
They are embedding it into daily work.
Think:
Writing emails
Coding software
Searching information
Managing customers
Now the game changes completely.
Because:
Whoever owns your workflow
owns your dependence
And whoever owns your dependence…
controls the future revenue.
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
The poster is telling you a simple but powerful story:
Models are becoming commodities
Cloud platforms are capturing the money
Applications are capturing the user
Control comes from owning the workflow
THE “AHA” MOMENT
Most people think:
“AI is about who builds the smartest model.”
But the truth is:
AI is about who controls how that intelligence is used.
That’s why:
Microsoft is quietly winning (distribution)
Amazon Web Services is hedging (hosts everyone)
OpenAI and Anthropic are racing (brains)
And apps are locking users in (control)
ONE-LINE TAKEAWAYS
This isn’t a race to build AI.
It’s a race to own where AI is used.
N. Kishore — Private Banker, JPMorgan Chase. Numbers by day, Narratives by Night. History buff and restless wanderer, mapping old empires onto new journeys.
Devoted husband, grandfather. Practitioner of tactical silence. Quiet fortitude in reserve.
Artificial intelligence is the guaranteed pathway to natural stupidity . The success of AI will result in it’s implementation in all forms of human endeavour. In the coming years, it will completely replace independent thought, a trait that places us, apparently at the tip of the evolutionary pyramid, Thus irrespective of who wins, earns or uses AI mankind will lose.
Every new venture/technology has its pros and cons, benefits and dangers, old and new business models; it’s people who decide how best to use it. I am excited about the potential of AI to do good for humanity while afraid of its capability to harm and destroy humanity if it falls in to the hands of terrorists without any guardrails and constraints. Its discovery and development is a significantly big leap in the history of humankind. I wish the author, who seems to have a good understanding of its development and deployment, can comment on this aspect. My fears were heightened when one of the renowned pioneering architects of this technology quit the startup he was part of, expressing the same fears I have after seeing the direction the technology was taking from the inside
I agree with the comments by Nanda and yet here is the stark truth – Nuclear technology was invented by mankind and one would have thought it would be a deterrent. Yet, the very “guardians of World Order” misuse this power time and again and with abandon. One would have thought that the man at the helm of the most powerful nation on earth will behave with sagacity!
The bottom-line is that any new and powerful technology should be built with proper checks and balances – if not it will be misused. AI is unfortunately headed in that direction and it’s only natural that with time, history will repeat itself.
Thank you all for your kind thoughts. All of your points taken, deeply appreciated.
We’re only at square one in a journey that will evolve with paradigm shifts happening at warp speed.
My warning to other people like me in their 70s, don’t sit this one out …….you don’t have to learn to code .
Thanks for sharing this, really insightful breakdown of where the real value is in AI.
Just wanted to add a small thought to what you’ve written, hope you don’t mind. The way I see it, you could think of each AI model like a trained professional. An engineer learns engineering to become an engineer. A doctor learns medicine to become a doctor. A chartered accountant studies finance to become a CA. Each one is kind of like a “model” – they learn patterns and respond based on what they know. But you wouldn’t go to a doctor for an engineering problem, right? They might try to help, but it probably won’t be the best answer. I feel the same applies to AI matching the right model to the right task matters just as much as building a powerful one.
Take a chef’s knife, you could use it to pry open a paint can, but it’s a bad idea. The blade will dull or snap. That’s exactly why I love your point about not forcing one general-purpose model into every job.
And honestly, the part that stuck with me most is where you talk about the cloud and control layers. Even the best engineer or doctor is pretty useless without a clinic, a hospital, or some way to reach patients. That’s the cloud. And owning the everyday tools they actually use the prescription pad, the calculator, the workbench that’s the control layer. That’s where the real economic value lives.
Thanks again for this. genuinely for a thoughtful writeup.
The author has very succinctly captured the essence of AI and the consequences – This isn’t a race to build AI. It’s a race to own where AI is used.
Strongly recommended “read” by all as this is where the world is headed and it’s best to be aware and go with the flow!
💯🙏🏽
The race to own AI usage is a high-stakes, multi-trillion dollar competition to control foundational technology, data infrastructure, and specific industry applications. Led by US tech giants (Google, Microsoft, Meta) and China, the battle focuses on AI chips, cloud dominance, and proprietary data to unlock productivity and, ultimately, economic and military superiority.
Ultimately, the race is less about who creates the first general AI, and more about who controls the infrastructure and the specific data that enables AI to deliver tangible value in daily life and industrial applications.