On Platform Shifts and AI

AI has created a technological platform shift but not yet a distribution platform shift, so AI products currently rely on traditional channels like sales, virality, and paid acquisition. Sam Shank, founder and CEO of HotelTonight, pointed out that new consumer opportunities come from distribution shifts. Past distribution shifts came later than the technology: Facebook's mobile ads in 2012 turned apps into multi-billion dollar companies four years after the App Store launched in 2008. The text predicts most current AI companies will fail within five years, while incumbents and consumer companies with existing scale may benefit most.