The Frontier and the Network
Quick answer: Where does the real advantage in AI lie, according to John Fenzel?
John argues power in transformative technology moves through adoption, not invention: procedures, organizations, standards, and habits. Washington is guarding frontier AI models, the engine, while China gives its models away free, laying the track. When everyone builds on your foundation, you set the standard and decide what normal looks like.
In June 2026, the Commerce Department ordered Anthropic to suspend all foreign access to its two most advanced AI models, which had been public for three days. The company disabled them for everyone and complied under protest. The press argued over whether it was prudent or overreach. John asks a different question: what does Washington think it's protecting? His answer is a theory of power, the belief that the advantage lives in the best model. History suggests otherwise. For two centuries, a breakthrough draws attention and capital, then a quieter process follows: engineers rewrite procedures, managers redraw organizations, standards harden, habits change. The invention is remembered; the adoption is what mattered, as economist Paul David showed. China, meanwhile, is handing its models to anyone for free. John compares it to two suppliers, one locking his best tools behind the counter, the other giving them to every builder in town. Within a year, the second sets the standard. We're guarding the engine. They're laying the track.
Why it matters for leaders: Advantage goes to whoever shapes how a tool is adopted, not only to whoever builds the best one.
Q: What prompted this essay?
A: A June 2026 Commerce Department order directing Anthropic to suspend foreign access to its two most advanced models; the company disabled them for everyone.
Q: What historical pattern does John cite?
A: For two centuries, breakthroughs draw attention, but the quieter adoption process, as economist Paul David described, is where power actually shifts.
Read the full essay on Substack → https://heroespath.substack.com/p/the-frontier-and-the-network
By John Fenzel, founder and CEO of Heroes' Path Foundation