Decoder• Oct 30, 2025• 1:05:32Interview

How Silicon Valley enshittified the internet, with Cory Doctorow | Decoder

From Decoder

Cory Doctorow•Author & Activist

Executive Summary

Author and activist Cory Doctorow discusses his theory of "inshittification," a multi-stage process of platform decay where technology services are initially beneficial to users, then pivot to serve business customers, and finally extract all value for shareholders, resulting in a degraded experience for everyone.
Doctorow argues this trend is not inevitable but a direct result of weakened antitrust enforcement, which has allowed tech monopolies to form and eliminate competition.
He provides detailed case studies on companies like Facebook and Amazon, critiques the current generative AI boom as an unsustainable economic bubble, and proposes solutions centered on mandated interoperability and strengthening labor rights through sectoral bargaining.

10 quotes

Concerns Raised

The unchecked growth of tech monopolies due to lax antitrust enforcement.
The use of intellectual property laws like the DMCA to stifle competition and interoperability.
The current generative AI industry is an economic bubble with unsustainable financials.
The erosion of tech worker power, leading to more exploitative company practices.
Regulatory capture and the inability of current legal frameworks to adapt to platform dynamics.

Opportunities Identified

Mandating interoperability to lower switching costs for users and restore competitive pressure.
Revitalizing antitrust enforcement globally to break up monopolies and prevent anti-competitive mergers.
Strengthening labor rights through sectoral bargaining to give workers a voice in corporate strategy.
Leveraging the U.S. Copyright Office's stance that AI-generated content is not copyrightable to protect human creators.
International cooperation on antitrust, as many countries share similar legal frameworks.

Key Themes

The Theory of Inshittification

Doctorow outlines his core thesis: a three-stage process of platform decay. Platforms first attract users with a good product, then abuse those users to benefit business customers, and finally abuse the business customers to extract all value for shareholders, leaving a 'pile of shit' behind.

This provides a causal framework for professionals to understand why the digital services they rely on consistently degrade over time.

The Failure of Antitrust as a Root Cause

Doctorow argues that the primary driver of inshittification is the 40-year decline in antitrust enforcement. This allowed companies like Facebook, Google, and Amazon to acquire or crush competitors, removing the market discipline that would have prevented them from abusing users and customers.

This shifts the focus from blaming technology itself to blaming specific policy failures, suggesting that regulatory intervention is the key solution.

Interoperability as a Pro-Competitive Remedy

A key proposed solution is mandating interoperability, allowing users to leave a platform like Facebook but maintain contact with friends who remain. This would lower switching costs, making platforms accountable to their users and vulnerable to competition.

This highlights a concrete regulatory path for creating a more competitive and user-centric tech ecosystem.

Generative AI as an Economic Bubble

Doctorow is highly skeptical of the current AI boom, framing it as an economic bubble characterized by massive capital expenditure ($700B) versus minimal gross revenue ($45B) and flawed business models based on wage displacement. He predicts a crash similar to the crypto collapse.

This offers a strong counter-narrative to the prevailing AI hype, urging caution and critical evaluation of the technology's long-term economic viability.

The Role of Labor Power

The decline of tech worker power is identified as a key factor enabling inshittification. Doctorow advocates for renewed labor organizing, specifically sectoral bargaining, as a crucial check on corporate power and a way to ensure technology is developed ethically.

This connects technology development directly to labor issues, suggesting that talent retention and employee activism are critical forces in shaping the industry.

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Topics

Inshittification Platform Decay Antitrust Monopoly Cory Doctorow Facebook Amazon Google Generative AI AI Bubble DMCA Section 1201 Interoperability Labor Organizing Copyright Fair Use FTC

Processed Feb 25, 2026 yt-dlp + mlx-whisper + Gemini