Taste becomes consumer tech's new moat

Data: FactSet; Chart: Erin Davis/Axios

As some tech giants pour billions into building AI models, others are betting that knowing what people like is a valuable business in itself.

Why it matters: Companies with proprietary data about human preferences, interests and behavior could gain a competitive advantage.

"If you're a model developer, you desperately want that taste data layer because the model itself doesn't have any taste without it, so that data is like incredibly valuable to you," Reddit COO Jen Wong tells Axios. "I can imagine that there might be a very vibrant market for that information."

Zoom in: Companies like Pinterest, Spotify, Etsy, Reddit and DoorDash have positioned themselves as experts in human taste. These platforms have amassed years of data about what people shop, save and buy.

Reddit, Pinterest and Spotify argue that proprietary taste data becomes more valuable as AI models become commoditized. Etsy, DoorDash and others see it as a way to make shopping more personalized.

As market momentum moves toward AI companies, they are selling those narratives to Wall Street.

By the numbers: The word "taste" appeared 22 times across Pinterest, Spotify and Etsy's earnings calls in the second quarter of 2026, up from just two in the first quarter of 2024, according to an Axios analysis of transcripts.

Between the lines: Understanding what someone wants, or intent, isn't the same as understanding taste.

AI models can identify what's in a piece of content or a product, like its size or color. But they struggle to understand why a user likes it or anticipate what else they might want.

In a study of nearly 15,000 video placements, AI audience discovery company Chronicle Media found that similarity between a watched video and a new video was a poor predictor of whether those viewers would engage with the new video.

The big picture: The long-term value of proprietary taste data depends on people continuing to participate in the platforms that collect it.

The value of Reddit, for example, comes not just from its archive of conversations but from users continually posting, voting and commenting.

Large language models are built to analyze human preferences, not develop them.

The bottom line: "The AI by itself doesn't have style or taste. People have style and taste," Pinterest CEO Bill Ready said on the company's August earnings call.