Startup Defensibility in the Era of AI Giants

Google’s reversal of the “ChatGPT moment gap” offers a masterclass in how incumbents can survive—and ultimately dominate—paradigm shifts. But the playbook that enabled Google’s turnaround also reveals the structural vulnerabilities that AI startups can exploit.

Google & The Great AI Reversal

This analysis examines the four-component formula that powered Google’s comeback, then inverts it to identify the counter-strategies available to startups competing against awakened incumbents. The insight: incumbents win through coordination and leverage; startups win through focus and speed.