What control do platforms fear losing to AI agents?

Question

Accepted Answer

Platforms fear losing direct control of user access to AI agents
Platforms fear losing their direct contact with users to AI agents, which would mean the platforms “lose control to another party.” In practice, the issue shows up when major apps restrict a built-in assistant’s access, effectively disabling the agent’s ability to operate inside those platforms.
What platforms say they fear losing is direct user contact
An IDC associate research director said platforms want to keep direct contact with their users, because otherwise they “lose control to another party.” The concern is framed around access: when an AI agent can act across apps, the platform’s relationship with the user can shift away from the platform itself.
How that loss of control shows up when apps block access
After a prototype phone that could follow voice commands to execute tasks across apps was released, tech giants including Alibaba, Tencent, and JD.com restricted the built-in assistant’s access. The result was that the phone’s AI agent was effectively disabled in those cases, and ByteDance turned off the tool in certain circumstances, including when payments were involved.
Why broad access to other companies’ apps is a sticking point
The sticking point for AI agent devices is described as gaining broad access to apps owned by other companies. While some devices aim to collaborate with apps rather than force entry, the broader concern remains that letting an agent operate widely can shift operational control away from the app owners.
The “control” concern exists even though performance is still inconsistent
Even with industry excitement about agentic smartphones, an IDC researcher said the performance of AI agent tools is still often patchy. That uncertainty is paired with the control concern: platforms want to manage user interaction inside their own services, rather than having another party handle it through an agent.

Reading history

Hide →

This history is cleared when the page is closed.

What control do platforms fear losing to AI agents?

Loading

Was this article helpful?

Helpful

Not helpful

Report an issue

1

0

0

Share with friends