A decade ago, we argued about which app would win your attention. Now the fight is over who mediates it. AI assistants are becoming the front door to everything we do with computers: search, shopping, media, work. Whoever wins that interface will decide what you see first, which option you consider “default,” much of the narrative surrounding it, and how much of your life is routed through their business model.

In that context, three strategies are colliding. Apple, following its instincts about privacy, is baking a privacy-forward layer called Apple Intelligence straight into the devices people already use, with on-device models and a new Private Cloud Compute for heavier requests. Amazon is pushing Alexa+, a paid, more agentic assistant that does real tasks end-to-end. And Meta is pitch

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