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Who does this benefit in a zero-sum competition scenario, assuming that everybody is affected.

For instance, imagine a competition over the AI toaster market. You have Philburn, the broke PhD student with a great idea, Burnright LLC, the toaster algorithm and electronics designer, BurnCo, the manufacture, and B2N, the toast technology venture capitalist.

A few scenarios: 1) BurnCo hires Philburn for internal R&D. 2) Burnright develops the tech and licenses to BurnCo. 3) BurnCo contracts Burnright for R&D. 4) Philburn starts Smoke, gets B2N investment, and gets acquired by BurnCo.

Which of these, or others, become comparatively advantaged with this new tax treatment?



> Who does this benefit in a zero-sum competition scenario, assuming that everybody is affected.

Foreign-run software companies not affected by this law, big companies with deep pockets that don't need to fear upstart competition, and other industries that are not R&E but can enjoy the lower tax rates from TCJA that were paid for with this revenue.




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