COMMERCE / THE PARTNERSHIPS OBSERVATORY
What keeps commerce companies valuable as AI channels grow?
A company can reach customers through an AI channel, buy models for its own services and supply commerce infrastructure. Examine its partnerships together to identify what it contributes and where it depends on others.[2]
Explore how the firms connect, then assess which contributions each partner needs and can replace.
01 / WHERE AI PLAYERS ENTER
How do companies connect to AI players?
AI players enter as customer channels, capability suppliers and partners in commerce infrastructure. Explore how labs connect to merchant platforms, retailers, service providers and payment networks.[1]
Select a lab or a segment to explore its arrangements.
AI LABS
Sources and notes
Case evidence. Partnerships Observatory, reconciled Commerce research, cutoff 7 October 2026: 81 dated episode/role records across 58 direct case bundles, including historical, planned and specification material. The displayed record disclosures retain the original source passages, dates and unresolved allocations.
Theory. Richard M. Emerson, "Power-Dependence Relations," American Sociological Review 27, no. 1 (1962), pp. 31-41, especially pp. 32-33. Dependence concerns valued outcomes and costly alternatives for the same outcome. The strategic application here is the Observatory's; the analysis examines how alternatives affect negotiating room.