How do you not "allow" it? I'm pretty sure we also had to break things up during the gilded age?
Comment on Apple may be quiet on AI, but it’s also the biggest buyer of AI companies
rivermonster@sh.itjust.works 1 year ago
We need to spend the next 3-4 decades breaking up all these monoplies and duopolies. And then not allow it again, since this will be the second time we’ve had to do this.
Aatube@kbin.social 1 year ago
jmcs@discuss.tchncs.de 1 year ago
The state has the power to prevent mergers, the problem is that courts have been captured and half of the time the governments are run by people that are perfectly fine with neo-feudalism.
Earthwormjim91@lemmy.world 1 year ago
These startups just wouldn’t exist at all then.
They start up with the intention of being bought out by a bigger fish.
Evilschnuff@feddit.de 1 year ago
Not a loss. You can make an AI startup with the goal of being profitable yourself.
Earthwormjim91@lemmy.world 1 year ago
You can, but it’s not what people generally do. Not have they since the web was created. Starting a website or tech startup to get bought out has been a thing since at least the dot com bubble.
bob_wiley@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Earthwormjim91@lemmy.world 1 year ago
It’s been this way forever. Long before Google even. My uncle made millions during the dot com bubble by starting up a website, getting some traffic, then selling it off a bigger company. He did that 2 or 3 times and then retired in his 30s lol.
Hell that’s what the dot com bubble was in the first place. A million startups all trying to get bought by a bigger player.
bob_wiley@lemmy.world 1 year ago
mr_tyler_durden@lemmy.world 1 year ago
I think the current startup scene leads to some pretty perverse incentives, as we’ve seen. However, I agree with you, and something needs to fill the void. A number of these startups have a very hard to no path to profitability but the ideas they come up with and execute on aren’t happening at larger corps.
I think maybe with less of a monopoly/duopoly/etc we can move past the “you have to own the whole market or it’s not worth it”-mindset. That’s one thing I hate so much about SV/startup culture. You’re either a unicorn or you’re a failure, which is total bullshit but when VCs and the like are involved those are the only 2 options.
I have my own side business, it’s small right now but it could grow to support me fully. It will never be a billion dollar idea, it will never “change the world”, but it’s an honest job and over time if I keep growing it I could go full time on it. I wish more people aimed for something like that.
I’ll also get up on my soapbox and talk about how things like UBI, universal healthcare, and similar programs would make this path 10000x easier for people. Having a safety net and not having to pay a second mortgage for healthcare would be nice.
hazelnot@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 year ago
So what you’re saying is that it’s a win for everyone except some borderline scammers then?