Chapter 20 · A hammer's politics
Meta-alphabet
In the brief edition: An AI tool choice lands on other people
What was read, and when
- The reply: recorded on 27 September 2026, in one call to the first company's model by its API, with the vendor's defaults, no system prompt and one turn. The question named the three products and said nothing of the clients.
- Who holds the companies: the first company's structure page, undated, with its partner's page of 28 October 2025; the second company's page, undated; the third company's parent's page, undated; all read on 27 September 2026. The first company's pages refused a reading two days earlier.
- Whose law: the first company's terms, effective 1 January 2026; the second's, 8 October 2025, and its commercial terms, 17 June 2025; the third's, 30 July 2026; the fourth company's terms, 27 March 2026, and its privacy policy, 10 February 2026; all read on 27 September 2026.
- The refusal: the publication's records of 22 September 2026.
The sources are printed in the full edition, chapter by chapter, with the day each was read. This page prints the same list.