Marshall Van Alstyne

Interested in human side of #information #economics #social #networks #strategy Allen & Kelli Questrom Chair in IS Boston University

[Marshall Van Alstyne @InfoEcon]

Interested in why regulating digital platforms has proven so challenging, and what to do about it? Latest writing on platform abuses, diagnoses, and solutions. Comments welcome. https://t.co/BNQA2FpPIk #platforms #antitrust #misinformation #regulation #GDPR #DSA #Governance #CompetitionPolicy @sanguit @g2parker

[Marshall Van Alstyne @InfoEcon]

DEADLINE THIS WEEKEND! We invite scholars from management, economics, computer science, law, and policy to submit their best platform research. $1000 best paper prize. https://t.co/5wqDV2J0Mn

[Marshall Van Alstyne @InfoEcon]

Want to influence an election? Write your content without robot exclusion codes so AI will cite you

[Andy Hall @ahall_research]

Why do major AI models tell left-wing voters in Japan to vote for the communist party? My new research paper led by Sho Miyazaki.

In 2026, voters across the world will be asking AI to help them vote. How will the AI respond? We study this question in Japan, which recently held a snap election.

When voters provide policy positions, we find that the models rely heavily on this information—and in Japan, the models heavily recommend the communist party in response to left-wing positions, even though the positions we provided are held by a range of other parties.

Why are the AIs doing this? We’re not sure, but we have a theory: in Japan, the communist party operates a content-heavy, fully open website with a “newspaper” that is openly accessible for AI models. In contrast, many Japanese news outlets block AI models from accessing their content.

The result: the Japanese Communist Party website is one of the most-cited “news sources” in our study.

This pattern of recommending the JCP is consistent across many models, including the most recent frontier models.

There’s much more work to do here, but we think our paper suggests two main takeaways:

AI models should be more careful about what sources they consider news, maybe especially in non-US contexts where the model companies may hold less policy expertise

Parties and news sources that want to influence AI recommendations should think twice about excluding their content from AI. To paraphrase @tylercowen, when it comes to elections and voting, journalists may want to “write for the AI”! Governments may want to consider policies that allow this content to be used for voting recommendations but not for other AI model use cases.

Looking forward to everyone’s feedback as we prepare to submit this paper and turn to studying US voting recommendations in advance of November’s midterms.

Check out the full paper below.

[Marshall Van Alstyne @InfoEcon]

Now accepting papers for the 13th Platform Strategy Summit. We invite scholars from economics, management, computer science, policy & law. $1000 best paper prize. Pls share #platforms #AI #regulation #strategy #conference @erikbryn

[Marshall Van Alstyne @InfoEcon]

Wishing you galloping success in the new year

[Marshall Van Alstyne @InfoEcon]

Will #Congress please constrain the charlatan in the Whitehouse? The exec branch has neither authority to set tariffs nor authority to declare war.
https://t.co/YvyKMXbwlA

[Marshall Van Alstyne @InfoEcon]

Happy Holidays to Friends & Family

[Marshall Van Alstyne @InfoEcon]

Do you have a platform challenge? #Strategy #Launch? #Monetization? #OpenInnovation? Student teams will produce a 25-page solution for you to boost their learning. Any platform course topic below possible. Call for projects here: https://t.co/K5kzkBmTFi Pls Share @sanguit @g2parker @pevans_c @theplatformguy @ntwk_platforms @HamidrezaHoss @CarmeloCennamo @AnnabelleGawer

[Justin Wolfers @JustinWolfers]

Notice the pattern: help a narrow group loudly, hurt everyone else quietly. Tariffs help a few steel workers but raise prices for every firm using steel. Tax cuts favor the rich while squeezing social programs. Politically noisy wins, economically costly losses.

[Marshall Van Alstyne @InfoEcon]

A lesson in contrasts

[Captain Mark Kelly @CaptMarkKelly]

I’ve been through a lot worse than anything Donald Trump or Pete Hegseth can throw at me. And I'm not backing down, because this isn't about me — it's about you and every American's First Amendment right.

[Marshall Van Alstyne @InfoEcon]

What happens when AI makes answers really cheap? Human questions become ever more important. We also need the skill to challenge those answers lest we become complacent and miss the bigger picture.

New work with @sanguit shows how to do this: https://t.co/dHb5UZk9lt

[Marshall Van Alstyne @InfoEcon]

Theater of the absurd

[Rudi Bachmann @BachmannRudi]

The USA under Trump has become officially a clown car operation. Certified by corrupt FIFA.

[Justin Wolfers @JustinWolfers]

"Does this feel like or look like a well-run competent administration? It took them 10 months to discover that the United States doesn't grow bananas and that therefore if we tariff bananas that that's not going to bring banana factories on shore."

[Marshall Van Alstyne @InfoEcon]

Welcome to the 1930s

[Manisha Sinha @ProfMSinha]

Historian here it’s Hannah Arendt’s death anniversary and she was of course prescient.

[Marshall Van Alstyne @InfoEcon]

Resist

[Shanaka Anslem Perera ⚡ @shanaka86]

BREAKING: The Most Sweeping Consolidation of U.S. Economic Power Since 1971

Trump’s inner circle is architecting something Wall Street hasn’t seen in half a century.

If Kevin Hassett takes the Federal Reserve Chair (80% odds on Kalshi), Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will simultaneously lead the National Economic Council.

One man. Treasury. The NEC. Already acting IRS Commissioner.

The implications are staggering.

Bessent would control the $36.2 trillion debt ceiling negotiations, coordinate all White House economic policy on taxes, energy, and healthcare, AND oversee federal tax collection. Meanwhile, his handpicked Fed Chair candidate sits atop the world’s most powerful central bank.

This is not speculation. Bloomberg confirmed December 3rd that aides are actively discussing this structure. Trump himself called Hassett a “potential Fed chair” at the Cabinet meeting. The announcement comes early 2026.

Historical parallel: The last time fiscal and monetary policy aligned this tightly under executive influence was Nixon and Arthur Burns. That ended with 12% inflation and a decade of stagflation.

The NEC role requires zero Senate confirmation. Bessent walks in the day Hassett walks out.

Bond traders are already pricing the risk. Ten-year Treasury yields ticked higher on the news. Translation: markets smell softer inflation discipline ahead.

What to watch: Fed decision December 10th. Trump’s official announcement Q1 2026. Senate confirmation hearings that will define whether institutional independence survives this administration.

The architecture of American economic governance is being redrawn in real time.

This is not a drill.

[Marshall Van Alstyne @InfoEcon]

Do you have a platform challenge? #Strategy #Launch? #Monetization? #OpenInnovation? Student teams will produce a 25-page solution for you to boost their learning. Any platform topic in course below possible. Call for projects here: https://t.co/nLwqCG3Jjg Pls Share @sanguit @g2parker @pevans_c @theplatformguy @ntwk_platforms @HamidrezaHoss @CarmeloCennamo @AnnabelleGawer

[Marshall Van Alstyne @InfoEcon]

For the originalists

[Fareed Zakaria @FareedZakaria]

Hamilton said the constitution limits the President’s foreign policy powers because “an avaricious man might be tempted to betray the interests of the state [for] the acquisition of wealth.” https://t.co/AZFoyb2hw0

[Marshall Van Alstyne @InfoEcon]

Cuts to science research are a travesty

[Neil deGrasse Tyson @neiltyson]

Every machine in a Hospital that diagnoses your body without cutting you open is based on a principle of Physics, discovered by a Physicist who had no interest in Medicine.

If you think the world doesn’t need Basic Science, or that somehow Science has failed you, think again.

[Marshall Van Alstyne @InfoEcon]

Go get 'em Mark. We're with you

[Senator Mark Kelly @SenMarkKelly]

When I was 22 years old, I commissioned as an Ensign in the United States Navy and swore an oath to the Constitution. I upheld that oath through flight school, multiple deployments on the USS Midway, 39 combat missions in Operation Desert Storm, test pilot school, four space shuttle flights at NASA, and every day since I retired – which I did after my wife Gabby was shot in the head while serving her constituents.

In combat, I had a missile blow up next to my jet and flew through anti-aircraft fire to drop bombs on enemy targets. At NASA, I launched on a rocket, commanded the space shuttle, and was part of the recovery mission that brought home the bodies of my astronaut classmates who died on Columbia. I did all of this in service to this country that I love and has given me so much.

Secretary Hegseth’s tweet is the first I heard of this. I also saw the President’s posts saying I should be arrested, hanged, and put to death.

If this is meant to intimidate me and other members of Congress from doing our jobs and holding this administration accountable, it won’t work. I’ve given too much to this country to be silenced by bullies who care more about their own power than protecting the Constitution.

[Marshall Van Alstyne @InfoEcon]

@elonmusknews30 Yes