Nuoyi Wang | Reconceptualising AI agents: Reconfiguring Power Dynamics in Global AI Platform Ecosystems between the US and China

Nuoyi Wang | Reconceptualising AI agents: Reconfiguring Power Dynamics in Global AI Platform Ecosystems between the US and China | University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis, Media Studies | Supervisors: Prof. dr. Thomas Poell, Dr. Fernando van der Vlist | May 2025 – May 2029 | n.wang[at]uva.nl

This project aims to critically investigate the evolving role of AI agents within the broader AI platform ecosystems. This process of the “platformisation of AI” responds to the growing convergence of platform studies and the political economy of AI, especially in light of the recent surge in Generative AI and the industrialisation of foundation models. While existing research has predominantly focused on the infrastructural dominance and economic logic of US-based Big Tech firms, this project highlights the need to account for geopolitical variability, particularly the rising influence of Chinese technology giants.

This project seeks to reconceptualise the conceptual and geopolitical contexts of “AI platform ecosystems” by addressing the following research question: To what extent can AI agents be conceptualised as platforms in infrastructural, economic, and governance aspects? How do they relate to and reshape the evolving dynamics of global AI platform ecosystems? What are the implications regarding the power distribution within broader socio-political structures?

Adopting an interpretivist approach, the thesis will employ case studies by comparing dominant AI agent builders developed by leading US (e.g., OpenAI, Microsoft, Google, Amazon) and Chinese (e.g., Tencent, Baidu, ByteDance, Alibaba) tech conglomerates. Using the digital method of “evolutionary platform technography,” the project will systematically document and examine the technical architectures, economic models, and governance frameworks of AI agent builders across both contexts. In doing so, the project seeks to enhance our understanding of how AI agents may reconfigure the evolving dynamics of platform power in the global digital economy.