Decoder with Nilay Patel Sir Tim Berners-Lee doesn’t think AI will destroy the web
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Nov 10, 2025 
In a fascinating conversation, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web, shares insights from his memoir and his work with Inrupt, focused on decentralization. He discusses the web's origins and current challenges, contrasting addictive platforms like TikTok with his vision for an open web. Tim explores the potential of AI as a unifying standard but expresses doubts about industry cooperation. He emphasizes the importance of users controlling their data and outlines the future of personalized AIs and data wallets, advocating for interoperability and regulatory solutions.
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Centralization Erodes Digital Sovereignty
- Dominant platforms concentrate control by persuading users to use apps for better tracking and monetization.
- Sir Tim Berners-Lee calls this loss of individual digital sovereignty a core problem for the web.
The Olympic Moment That Framed The Web
- Tim described typing "this is for everyone" onstage during the 2012 London Olympics opening ceremony.
- That phrase captured his lifelong vision of the web as an inclusive public resource.
One Web Enabled Exponential Growth
- Tim convinced companies to build one interoperable web because a single web would grow exponentially.
- He warns fragmented, incompatible webs would have stalled global adoption and innovation.
