The "paradigm shift" of AI and the technical value stack

Today I read several articles by Michael Parekh. His self-introduction is as follows:

Long-term tech investor/entrepreneur/advisor, ranging from private to public companies. Focused on AI. Software changed the world (@pmarca was right), and now it's "AI eating software." AI optimist. Twitter: @mparekh

The theme of this series of articles is "AI: Reboot to Zero" (https://michaelparekh.substack.com/).

I extracted relevant explanations about "paradigm shift" and "Tech Value Stack":

• https://michaelparekh.substack.com/p/ai-being-thankful-for-true-paradigm

• https://michaelparekh.substack.com/p/ai-building-value-over-time

Paradigm Shift

We believe AI products are truly a paradigm shift, and that starts to unlock these new ways of working that you’re referring to here. Users and customers are finding a new way to work. “We believe AI products represent a true paradigm shift, which begins to unlock new ways of working that you refer to here. Users and customers are discovering entirely new ways to work.”

-- Giancarlo “GC” Lionetti, Chief Business Officer of OpenAI

Viewing "paradigm shift" from the perspective of technological waves.

1. . For example, the Apple II was called "the bicycle for the mind," AOL was the gateway to the Internet, Yahoo! was a tool for finding information online, etc.
2. If such a shift can be profitable at scale, then it truly qualifies as a "paradigm shift." For example, eBay in 1998, Google in 2004, etc.
3. Of course, when an existing market undergoes fundamental change and is completely transformed, this "paradigm shift" carries even more weight. For instance, receiving taxi orders via a phone instead of owning a taxi license in your city.

These "paradigm shifts" are far more than just hollow buzzwords. When they truly occur, they often completely transform markets and usually expand them alongside "new ways." And now, the "paradigm shift" of AI is just beginning.

Tech Value Stack

Each wave of evolution in the Tech Value Stack typically starts with hardware and software standards (including both open and closed standards), which define the underlying hardware and software infrastructure. This infrastructure is provided by a growing number of specialized companies that offer applications and services to businesses and consumers, covering millions or even billions of users.

These form the first three levels of the Tech Value Stack. Over time, more companies build on top of these layers, providing consumer- and business-facing applications, content, and services.

Personal Computer (PC) Tech Value Stack

"Wintel" — represented by Microsoft and Intel, along with a few other companies, was one of the biggest winners in the personal computer wave.

Internet Tech Value Stack

Companies like Amazon and Google have been the winners in the internet wave for over twenty-five years.

The currently formed "tiered" AI Tech Value Stack

1. Starting with hardware and software infrastructure, including underlying chip manufacturers like TSMC, ASML, and recently Nvidia, which provides critical GPUs (Graphics Processing Units).
2. Next come large-scale data centers hosting computing resources.
3. Following that are companies offering foundational large language models, such as "AI-native" companies like OpenAI. These companies define the core components leading to the middle part of the technology stack.
4. Then come other levels of the technology stack that provide vast amounts of data and continuous processing and reprocessing of this data.
5. Then comes software infrastructure and middleware.
6. They enable the building of applications and services at the top of the stack.

Currently leading AI companies in each AI Tech Value Stack framework