Today, people create content primarily to capture attention—and monetize it through ads. This is the engine fueling giants like Meta, Google, and Amazon, who rely heavily on advertising revenue (Meta, for instance, derives 98% of its income from ads). Their entire business model hinges on aggregating user data to target ads more precisely.
But here’s the shift: When LLMs distill content and serve it directly to users, they bypass the original platforms—and their ads. At the same time, LLMs already build detailed user profiles, making ad targeting even more efficient.
This is why Meta is racing to adapt. They recognize that AI could become the primary conduit for ads—and if they don’t control part of that pipeline, their dominance evaporates. The "AI gold rush" isn’t just about superintelligence; it’s about dominating the next generation of advertising.