Resiliency and Scale

In this podcast episode published on October 22nd, 2025, Ben Thompson analyzes the common thread between China's export controls on rare earths and the Amazon Web Services US East 1 DNS issue, arguing that both events highlight a failure of resiliency due to the pursuit of scale and lower costs. He explains how the internet, despite its theoretical resilience, became overly dependent on US East 1, and how globalization led to a similar dependency on China for manufacturing and rare earths. Thompson then discusses information resiliency in the context of COVID-19, noting that while the centralization of information initially hindered the spread of diverse perspectives, the emergence of alternative platforms has improved the situation. He concludes that restoring resiliency requires accepting increased costs and value destruction, particularly in decoupling from China, and warns that prioritizing global efficiency at the expense of national resiliency has consequences.