Im relx'ed...heres why28 Jan 2026 10:20
AI Infrastructure vs Data Owners "the Real AI Moat" I used LSEG/RELX as prime examples....
The market is currently fixated on AI infrastructure — chips, compute, cloud, data centres etc
Analogy being - AI infrastructure (think MAG 7) building the roads Vs RELX / LSEG etc who own the maps and highway code + speed cameras to enforce compliance on the roads for certain data types / industries etc
AI is now moving away from experimentation LLMs / GPT type bots etc, into enterprise and regulated environments eg gov agencies, multi nationals. Then the value shifts away from raw compute and toward trusted data ie provenance, auditability, legal defensibility, In law, finance, risk, and markets. AI hallucinations aren’t bugs — they’re big liabilities. Many LLMs may provide answers and hallucinations eg GPT. RELX/LSEG are providing answers and solutions you can 100% RELY on, built on proprietary data sets.
AI doesn’t replace these moats — it raises the cost of not using them resulting higher ARPU with a deeper workflow lock-in via contract purchases and renewals. Who is going to trust non verified 3rd party dat
In a nutshell
Infrastructure wins the sprint (MAG 7 and infra build out).
Data owners RELX/LSEG win the toll road (this has not hit home for many IMO)
This distinction is not currently priced in....why;-
1. people are focussed on the current build out
2. people dont understand AI and capability boundaries
3. people fear what they dont understand and see threats that dont exist = current sell off IMO
Bit of a ramble but hope it helps..