The M&A Playbook of the AI Economy
A couple of weeks ago, I analyzed the $4.5 trillion M&A 2025 to show that it wasn’t random dealmaking. Every transformational transaction in 2025 fits one of three strategic archetypes, and each one maps directly to how the AI economy is being built. Understanding these patterns reveals the playbook that hyperscalers, sovereign wealth funds, and strategic acquirers are running.
The three archetypes are Infrastructure Consolidation, Platform War, and Talent Extraction. Each serves a distinct strategic purpose, yet they work together as complementary moves in the same game.
