The platform economy and its leading firms, such as Amazon, Facebook and Google, are reorganising the geography of value creation and capture on both a local and global scale. This article argues that economic geographers have underappreciated the implications of the platform on space. First, we demonstrate the concentration of platform giants in terms of location on the US West Coast and in terms of their market share in various services, such as search, maps and online sales. Platforms are simultaneously intermediaries, two-sided markets, data aggregators and leading users of artificial intelligence (AI). Second, we use a labour taxonomy to demonstrate the extensive reach of these platforms in terms of the labour markets that they serve and shape. To illustrate these changes in the geography of value creation, we present case studies of Amazon and Google Maps to show their effects on the location of economic activity. Third, we elaborate on our contention that platforms are at once intermediaries and data hubs. AI is likely to reinforce the power of these platform leaders because they have the largest data sets, the most computational power, enormous teams of the best AI researchers and vast reservoirs of capital that they can use to make acquisitions. We conclude by identifying areas for future research and calling upon economic geographers to consider the implications of the platform economy in reshaping the space of economic activity.

中文翻译：

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平台经济：重构资本主义积累空间

平台经济及其领先公司，如亚马逊、Facebook 和谷歌，正在重组本地和全球范围内价值创造和获取的地理分布。本文认为，经济地理学家低估了该平台对空间的影响。首先，我们展示了平台巨头在美国西海岸的位置及其在各种服务（例如搜索、地图和在线销售）中的市场份额的集中度。平台同时是中介、双边市场、数据聚合器和人工智能 (AI) 的领先用户。其次，我们使用劳动力分类法来证明这些平台在其服务和塑造的劳动力市场方面的广泛影响。为了说明价值创造地理的这些变化，我们展示了亚马逊和谷歌地图的案例研究，以展示它们对经济活动地点的影响。第三，我们详细阐述了我们的论点，即平台既是中介又是数据中心。AI 可能会增强这些平台领导者的力量，因为他们拥有最大的数据集、最强的计算能力、庞大的最优秀的 AI 研究人员团队以及可用于进行收购的大量资本。最后，我们确定了未来研究的领域，并呼吁经济地理学家考虑平台经济在重塑经济活动空间方面的影响。AI 可能会增强这些平台领导者的力量，因为他们拥有最大的数据集、最强的计算能力、庞大的最优秀的 AI 研究人员团队以及可用于进行收购的大量资本。最后，我们确定了未来研究的领域，并呼吁经济地理学家考虑平台经济在重塑经济活动空间方面的影响。AI 可能会增强这些平台领导者的力量，因为他们拥有最大的数据集、最强的计算能力、庞大的最优秀的 AI 研究人员团队以及可用于进行收购的大量资本。最后，我们确定了未来研究的领域，并呼吁经济地理学家考虑平台经济在重塑经济活动空间方面的影响。