Companies race to turn data into digital gold

New York

WEALTH and influence in the technology business have always been about gaining the upper hand in software or the machines that software ran on.

Now data - gathered in those immense pools of information that are at the heart of everything from artificial intelligence to online shopping recommendations - is increasingly a focus of technology competition. And academics and some policymakers, especially in Europe, are considering whether big Internet companies such as Google and Facebook might use their data resources as a barrier to new entrants and innovation.