Part V

Cheap cognition does not abolish scarcity. It changes the contest over what remains difficult to acquire: power at a usable site, advanced chips, land and networks, access to customers, permission to act, and an institution able to bear consequence. Which complement captures the margin depends on the industry and the moment. There is no single apex waiting above every market.

What does recur is a movement toward gates. A model may produce an answer while lacking the electricity, hardware, authority, or physical access needed to give it effect. Part V follows those separations into investment, liability, regulation, and political conflict. Abundant output is not the same as power over the world.