Big Tech as quasi-institutions: Power and AI regulations

The article analyzes the evolution of tech giants from the role of ordinary service providers to the position of quasi-institutions and 'gatekeepers'. The author indicates that traditional monopoly models are insufficient to describe the platform economy, where network effects and high switching costs become key, leading to the lock-in phenomenon. The text emphasizes the transition from product competition to infrastructural power, in which Big Tech companies design the rules of visibility and market participation. In response to these processes, European regulations such as the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and the Digital Services Act (DSA) are cited, aiming to restore market fairness and limit the arbitrary selective power of the largest digital players.