Publishing Journal ›› 2025, Vol. 33 ›› Issue (6): 5-13.

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Research on the Competition for Dominance between Content and Technology in the Publishing Industry in the Digital Intelligence Era

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  1. School of Journalism， Fudan University

  • Received:2025-05-15 Revised:2025-08-13 Online:2025-12-04 Published:2025-12-04

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Abstract: The publishing industry widely anticipates that AI will empower traditional publishers to achieve digital transformation. Yet this technological optimism obscures the unequal distribution of benefits and the struggle for dominance triggered by the entry of diverse stakeholders—led by technology companies—into the publishing sphere. Drawing on the theoretical framework of sphere transgressions， this study critically examines how technology companies erode the autonomy of publishing， leveraging their technological advantages. Their transgressions have evolved from content distribution to content gatekeeping and ultimately to content production， shifting from peripheral intervention to deep structural reshaping of the industry. Under the prevailing discourse of “digital-intelligent empowerment”， publishers face increasing dependence on tech companies， a redefined industrial logic， and a crisis of dominance—becoming the “nourishment” for technological expansion and the “scaffold” for their own displacement. To address these risks， the study recommends establishing fair benefit-sharing mechanisms among stakeholders， strengthening the coordinating role of publishing associations， and initiating “counter-transgressions” strategies that leverage publishers’ content resources. 

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