Silicon Valley Daily

Don't see how most (remaining) publishers survive the next 5-10 years.

1. Most content via search is not valuable enough that people are willing to pay

2. If you try to charge the LLMs, they'll just use free alternatives. Most information is commodity ("just wants to be free").

3. Putting aside the top 10% that are differentiated enough and enough people are willing to pay for it, e.g. NYT, unclear how you monetize as a long tail publication.

4. Additional trend: 99%-staffed LLM news sites. Doesn't work for investigative, but for stuff based on public primary sources, e.g. Supreme Court rulings, an LLM can write a story faster and (soon? already?) better than most court beat reporters.

This is a thoughtful and timely take. The economic model of publishing is clearly under pressure — especially for outlets without a strong brand or loyal audience. The rise of AI-generated content will only accelerate the consolidation toward a few premium players. Long-tail publications may need to pivot toward curation, niche communities, or services beyond content itself if they want to survive.