By Byron V. Acohido
For the past 25 years, I’ve watched the digital world evolve from the early days of the Internet to the behemoth it is today.
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What started as a decentralized, open platform for innovation has slowly but surely been carved up, controlled, and monetized by a handful of tech giants.
Now, a new wave of technological development—edge computing, decentralized identity, and privacy-first networking—is promising to reverse that trend. Companies like Muchich-based semi-conductor manufacturer Infineon Technologies are embedding intelligence directly into sensors and controllers, giving devices the ability to process data locally instead of shipping everything off to centralized cloud servers.
Meanwhile, privacy-focused projects like Session and Veilid are pushing for decentralized communication networks that don’t rely on Big Tech.
On the surface, this all sounds like a step in the right direction. But I can’t help but ask: Does any of this actually change the power dynamics of the digital world? Or will decentralization, like so many tech revolutions before it, just get absorbed into the existing system?
Disrupting business as usual
The move toward decentralized control at the edge is more than just hype. Companies like Infineon are developing zonal computing architectures in modern vehicles, where instead of having a single central control unit, intelligence is distributed throughout the car. This makes the system more responsive, more efficient, and less dependent on a cloud connection.
In smart cities, factories, and even consumer devices, similar trends are taking shape. Edge AI chips, secure microcontrollers, and embedded processors are allowing real-time decision-making without needing to send every bit of data to a distant data center.
Less data movement means fewer security risks, lower latency, and—potentially—less corporate control over user data.
But here’s the catch: technology alone doesn’t change who profits. The entire economic foundation of Big Tech is built on centralization, data extraction, and monetization. And unless that changes, decentralized infrastructure will just be a more sophisticated way for companies to keep controlling users.
We’ve seen this play out before. Apple, for instance, touts privacy as a key feature—offering on-device encryption, Secure Enclave, and privacy-first AI processing. Yet Apple’s actual business model still locks users into its ecosystem and rakes in billions through services, cloud storage, and app store commissions.
The same thing could happen with decentralization—Big Tech could give us just enough edge computing to improve efficiency while still keeping all the real control.
Needed change
For decentralization to actually shift power back to users, we need more than just technical advancements. We need a fundamental shift in the way digital businesses make money.
Right now, most of Big Tech runs on:
•Data extraction (Google, Meta, OpenAI) – AI models are hungry for data, and companies will keep finding ways to feed them, whether through search history, chat inputs, or enterprise contracts.
•Subscription lock-in (Microsoft, Adobe, Amazon AWS) – Even as infrastructure becomes more decentralized, companies still design services that tether users to their ecosystem through proprietary features and recurring fees.
•Cloud dependency (IoT, Smart Devices, Enterprise AI) – Even if devices get smarter at the edge, they’re still linked back to centralized platforms that dictate the rules.
So how do we break that cycle?
Reversing the pendulum
There are a handful of efforts trying to disrupt the status quo. Some of the more promising ones include:
•Decentralized identity (DID) – Projects like DXC Technology’s decentralized identity initiatives allow users to control their own authentication credentials, instead of relying on Google, Apple, or Microsoft to log into everything.
•Privacy-first communication – Apps like Session (a decentralized, onion-routed messaging service) and Secure Scuttlebutt (a peer-to-peer social network) are proving that people don’t need to rely on Big Tech to communicate securely.
•Distributed storage and compute – Technologies like IPFS (InterPlanetary File System) and Urbit are moving away from cloud-based storage in favor of fully decentralized data ownership.
But there’s a problem: most people still opt for convenience over privacy. That’s why Facebook survived the Cambridge Analytica privacy debacle. That’s why people still use Gmail despite deep-rooted privacy concerns. That’s why Amazon’s smart home ecosystem remains dominant, even though it’s clear that users are giving up control to a monetization-obsessed corporation.
Role, limits of regulation
Regulators—particularly in Europe—are trying to push back.
The Digital Markets Act (DMA) and GDPR enforcement actions have forced some minor course corrections, and OpenAI, Google, and Meta have all faced scrutiny for how they handle personal data.
But is it enough? History suggests that Big Tech would rather pay fines than change its core business model. In the U.S., regulators have been even more reluctant to intervene, allowing tech companies to grow unchecked under the guise of “innovation.”
So while regulatory efforts help, they’re not the real solution. The real change will only happen if decentralized business models become financially competitive with centralized ones.
The wildcard may yet prove to be hardware-driven decentralization. One of the biggest reasons Big Tech has been able to maintain its grip is the cloud-based nature of digital services. But edge computing advancements could change that—not because of privacy concerns, but because they make devices cheaper, faster, and more resilient.
Infineon’s work on zonal computing in vehicles, for example, isn’t driven by ideology—it’s a practical, cost-saving innovation that also happens to decentralize control. If similar trends take hold in smart factories, industrial automation, and consumer electronics, companies may start decentralizing for efficiency reasons rather than because of user demand.
That could be the key. If decentralization delivers real cost, speed, and security benefits, businesses might start shifting in that direction—even if reluctantly.
Course change is possible
Where Does This Leave Us? We’re at a turning point. The technology for decentralization is here, but the business models haven’t caught up. If companies continue monetizing user control the way they always have, then decentralization will just be a buzzword—absorbed into the existing system without shifting power in any meaningful way.
For real change, we need:
•Economic incentives that make privacy-preserving, user-controlled services profitable.–Hardware-driven decentralization that forces change from the bottom up.
•Regulatory frameworks that go beyond fines and actually reshape the competitive landscape.
•Consumer awareness that demands real control, not just convenience.
The next few years will decide whether decentralization actually shifts power to users or just becomes another selling point for Big Tech.
The technical advancements in IoT infrastructure—decentralized control, edge computing, and embedded intelligence—are promising steps toward reducing reliance on centralized data processing and improving privacy, efficiency, and system resilience.
But without a corresponding shift in business models, these innovations could still end up reinforcing the same exploitative data practices we’ve seen in cloud computing and social media.
For decentralization to truly matter, companies need to rethink how they monetize technology. The entrenched tech giants will have to be forced to change; it’s going to require pressure from consumers and regulators – and competition from innovators with a different mindset.
Companies like Infineon are providing the technical foundation that could enable a different model—if startups, policymakers, and forward-thinking enterprises push in that direction.
So the key question is: Will the next wave of tech entrepreneurs build on this decentralized foundation, or will Big Tech co-opt it into another walled garden? Right now, it could go either way.
I’ll keep watch and keep reporting.
Acohido
Pulitzer Prize-winning business journalist Byron V. Acohido is dedicated to fostering public awareness about how to make the Internet as private and secure as it ought to be.
