As intelligence becomes a commodity, trust and distribution become the new business moats
markjeffrey · x · 2026-08-28
James Altucher argues that as "price per intelligence" drops towards zero due to competition from Claude, OpenAI, and open-weight models (Kimi, Qwen, DeepSeek), traditional business moats based on development time or IP are dissolving.
He explores how to value companies in this era where AI replaces tasks ranging from coding to Super Bowl commercials and supply chain logistics. The proposed new moats are:
- TRUST: Consumers prefer established brands like H&R Block for taxes over raw AI models.
- DISTRIBUTION: Giants like IBM and Oracle hold advantages via existing customer bases.
- Vertical Integration: Deep execution in specific sectors like law and healthcare.
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