---
id: "quote-profit-pool-migration"
type: "quote"
source_timestamps: ["§ The Great Value Loop", "¶6"]
tags: ["value-capture", "technology-cycles"]
related: ["concept-great-value-loop"]
speaker: "Yinuo Tang and Eric Yanfei Zhao"
speakers: ["Yinuo Tang", "Eric Yanfei Zhao"]
sources: ["futures"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-futures"
originDay: 2
articleStem: "hbr-nm-101-energy-strategy-ai"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2026/06/your-company-needs-an-energy-strategy-for-ais-next-phase"
sourceTitle: "Your Company Needs an Energy Strategy for AI’s Next Phase"
---
# Profit pool migrates downward

> "The profit pool migrates downward in the stack to whatever can't be copied, rented, or scaled fast enough."

— [[entity-yinuo-tang]] and [[entity-eric-yanfei-zhao]] (§ The Great Value Loop, ¶6)

## Significance
The mechanism statement for [[concept-great-value-loop]]. The three tests — *can't be copied, rented, or scaled fast enough* — are the diagnostic for locating where value will pool next; in Era 4 the answer is energy and physics.