# consumer behavior

Leadership turmoil, regulatory experiments, and visible harm are eroding patience with AI and platform direction. Consumers are asserting control through browser-level privacy, operating-system switches, and politicized brand choices, pressuring companies to rethink design and governance.

Technology power plays, an AI-skewed labor market, and a rising consumer backlash are converging. Companies face scrutiny over surveillance policies, training investments, and reliability as users reassert control over products and operating systems.