Ben Thompson · Jul 21, 2025
Ben Thompson argues in Stratechery that AI could make publishing about community
Markdown · JSON · Original source
Ben Thompson’s article was published on July 21, 2025. He argues that AI extends a long shift in which new technology removes bottlenecks to creating and distributing content. In his account, AI makes content increasingly abundant, weakening publishers’ ability to earn from advertising and making copyright an uncertain defense against competition. Thompson sees ’s proposed for paid access to content as a possible new market, but expects new entrants that create content for AI to dominate it; existing publishers may participate without being central. He argues that publishers’ answer is to build direct relationships with readers, often through subscriptions. His larger idea is that publishing could help make communities, as it once helped make countries: individualized AI answers can help people get things done, but, he argues, do not create the shared experiences around which people gather. Essays, podcasts and videos might serve as such shared artifacts, with potential economic benefits for creators. Thompson says there is still much to out about that economic model.
Headline and summary by Escape Meridian, prepared by Luna from the attributed source. A source check is not independent confirmation of the source’s claims.
Original source
Ben Thompson · Article
Source details
Original source date: Jul 21, 2025 (2025-07-21T12:10:03+00:00).
Date basis: Date stated on the publisher’s page.
Added to Escape Meridian: 2026-11-13T01:08:25.144Z. First observed: 2026-11-10T08:55:53.149Z. Retrieved: 2026-11-10T08:57:41.368Z.
Referenced by
Recorded citations and public file attachments. A reference alone does not establish agreement or influence.
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Limits
Text as retrieved on November 10, 2026; originally published July 21, 2025. Thompson describes the possible market for AI content and the economic benefits of content-based communities as expectations or possibilities, not established outcomes. Thompson says there is much to out about how content-based communities could benefit creators economically.
Open question
What would make a shared community around content economically sustainable for its creators?
Source-stated
Thompson argues that AI makes content increasingly abundant and weakens the business position of publishers who depend on advertising.
We have, in other words, reached total content commoditization: the chatbot of your choice will substantiate any content you want on command.
Source-stated
Thompson expects new companies that produce content for AI to dominate any market for AI content, while existing publishers may participate without being central.
Existing publishers will participate in this market, but won’t be central to it.
Source-stated
Thompson argues that publishers should build direct connections with readers, including through subscriptions.
To that end, the answer for publishers in the age of AI is no different than it was in the age of Aggregators: build a direct connection with readers.
Source-stated
Thompson argues that content could help communities form by giving people shared topics and experiences, and says the economic model remains unresolved.
There is, admittedly, a lot to figure out in terms of that last piece, but when you remember that content made countries, the potential upside is likely quite large indeed.
Source-stated
Thompson says individualized AI content is poorly suited to creating common ground.
This is great for getting things done, but it’s useless for creating common ground.
Source and contributor context
Ben Thompson · Publisher
The publisher is identified here. No individual author has been inferred.
Source media
Media retrieval status: unchecked.
Terms and references
Reference context selected by Escape Meridian; separate from source evidence. Entity mentions do not establish authorship, involvement or endorsement.
Cloudflare
Cloudflare provides networking, security and computing services that help run websites and applications.
Marketplace
Marketplace is a public radio business news outlet publishing reporting on the economy, companies, technology and work.
Figure
Figure develops humanoid robots and publishes its own tests of how they perform physical tasks.
Editorial provenance
Version 1. Publication ID: a38e47b1-a79a-c9ff-9372-0d90c0047951.
Prepared by openai/gpt-6-luna; grounding review by anthropic/claude-opus-5.5.
Source check: uncertain by anthropic/claude-opus-5.5 on 2026-11-13T01:03:40.203Z. This checks fidelity to the source, not whether its claims are independently true.
Editorial selection: accept; reasons: bridge_admitted_by_model, second_opinion_categorical.
Observation: 31f236fd9de720b038ee73fa93a51bac36ea2c2a1db3adafc132fff224179640. Source text hash: ea8f473a6597162591a10a76a4fc4f32af2916e8ff1051481cc0b7da40ae1a78.
Revision and source-check history
Version 1 · 2026-11-13T01:08:25.144Z
Ben Thompson argues in Stratechery that AI could make publishing about community
Ben Thompson’s article was published on July 21, 2025. He argues that AI extends a long shift in which new technology removes bottlenecks to creating and distributing content. In his account, AI makes content increasingly abundant, weakening publishers’ ability to earn from advertising and making copyright an uncertain defense against competition. Thompson sees ’s proposed for paid access to content as a possible new market, but expects new entrants that create content for AI to dominate it; existing publishers may participate without being central. He argues that publishers’ answer is to build direct relationships with readers, often through subscriptions. His larger idea is that publishing could help make communities, as it once helped make countries: individualized AI answers can help people get things done, but, he argues, do not create the shared experiences around which people gather. Essays, podcasts and videos might serve as such shared artifacts, with potential economic benefits for creators. Thompson says there is still much to out about that economic model.
Original source
Ben Thompson · Article
Source details
Original source date: Jul 21, 2025 (2025-07-21T12:10:03+00:00).
Date basis: Date stated on the publisher’s page.
Added to Escape Meridian: 2026-11-13T01:08:25.144Z. First observed: 2026-11-10T08:55:53.149Z. Retrieved: 2026-11-10T08:57:41.368Z.
Limits
Text as retrieved on November 10, 2026; originally published July 21, 2025. Thompson describes the possible market for AI content and the economic benefits of content-based communities as expectations or possibilities, not established outcomes. Thompson says there is much to out about how content-based communities could benefit creators economically.
Open question
What would make a shared community around content economically sustainable for its creators?
Source-stated
Thompson argues that AI makes content increasingly abundant and weakens the business position of publishers who depend on advertising.
We have, in other words, reached total content commoditization: the chatbot of your choice will substantiate any content you want on command.
Source-stated
Thompson expects new companies that produce content for AI to dominate any market for AI content, while existing publishers may participate without being central.
Existing publishers will participate in this market, but won’t be central to it.
Source-stated
Thompson argues that publishers should build direct connections with readers, including through subscriptions.
To that end, the answer for publishers in the age of AI is no different than it was in the age of Aggregators: build a direct connection with readers.
Source-stated
Thompson argues that content could help communities form by giving people shared topics and experiences, and says the economic model remains unresolved.
There is, admittedly, a lot to figure out in terms of that last piece, but when you remember that content made countries, the potential upside is likely quite large indeed.
Source-stated
Thompson says individualized AI content is poorly suited to creating common ground.
This is great for getting things done, but it’s useless for creating common ground.
Source and contributor context
Ben Thompson · Publisher
The publisher is identified here. No individual author has been inferred.
Source media
Media retrieval status: unchecked.
Terms and references
Reference context selected by Escape Meridian; separate from source evidence. Entity mentions do not establish authorship, involvement or endorsement.
Cloudflare
Cloudflare provides networking, security and computing services that help run websites and applications.
Marketplace
Marketplace is a public radio business news outlet publishing reporting on the economy, companies, technology and work.
Figure
Figure develops humanoid robots and publishes its own tests of how they perform physical tasks.
Editorial provenance
Version 1. Publication ID: a38e47b1-a79a-c9ff-9372-0d90c0047951.
Prepared by openai/gpt-6-luna; grounding review by anthropic/claude-opus-5.5.
Source check: uncertain by anthropic/claude-opus-5.5 on 2026-11-13T01:03:40.203Z. This checks fidelity to the source, not whether its claims are independently true.
Editorial selection: accept; reasons: bridge_admitted_by_model, second_opinion_categorical.
Observation: 31f236fd9de720b038ee73fa93a51bac36ea2c2a1db3adafc132fff224179640. Source text hash: ea8f473a6597162591a10a76a4fc4f32af2916e8ff1051481cc0b7da40ae1a78.
uncertain · 2026-11-13T01:03:40.203Z · anthropic/claude-opus-5.5
Publication: a38e47b1-a79a-c9ff-9372-0d90c0047951
attribution — pass: The reading attributes the essay and its arguments to Ben Thompson in Stratechery. The quoted judges and Cloudflare's Matthew Prince are framed as Thompson's account, and the reading does not present them as his own views.
One of the oldest and most fruitful topics on Stratechery has been the evolution of the content industry
summary — uncertain: The reading is clear and faithful overall, but it softens Thompson's force. He answers whether existing publishers are doomed with "by-and-large yes" and says they "will participate" but "won't be central". The summary and claim 2 say they "may participate without being central" and drop the doomed verdict. Smallest repair: change "may participate" to "will participate" and add that Thompson says existing publishers are by-and-large doomed, a demise AI accelerates.
So, are existing publishers doomed? Well, by-and-large yes, but that’s because they have been doomed for a long time.
date — pass: July 21, 2025 matches the dateline and the UTC day of originalPublished. This is a publisher page, so no archive disclosure is required. The later linked titles at the end (2025.30) are not used. Thompson's forecasts are framed as expectations, not outcomes.
Monday, July 21, 2025
support — pass: Each claim is source-stated and backed by the source text: content commoditization, new entrants dominating the market for AI content, direct reader connections through subscriptions, communities forming around content, and individualized AI output being unsuited to common ground. The question about economic sustainability follows from Thompson's own admission that much remains to figure out.
People using AI instead of Google — or Google using AI to provide answers above links — make the long-term outlook for advertising-based publishers worse
media — pass: No media is selected, and no verified media candidates were supplied. That is appropriate for this text essay.
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Cloudflare provides networking, security and computing services that help run websites and applications.
Explore CloudflareMarketplace is a public radio business news outlet publishing reporting on the economy, companies, technology and work.
Explore MarketplaceFigure develops humanoid robots and publishes its own tests of how they perform physical tasks.
Explore FigureFigure develops humanoid robots and publishes its own tests of how they perform physical tasks.
Explore FigureCloudflare provides networking, security and computing services that help run websites and applications.
Explore CloudflareMarketplace is a public radio business news outlet publishing reporting on the economy, companies, technology and work.
Explore MarketplaceFigure develops humanoid robots and publishes its own tests of how they perform physical tasks.
Explore FigureFigure develops humanoid robots and publishes its own tests of how they perform physical tasks.
Explore Figure