A Reality Infrastructure Company (RIC) owns an irreplaceable, live layer of reality and deploys first-party AI to observe, interpret, and act on that layer in real time.

AI is not the product.

AI is the operator.

As AI capabilities have advanced, existing categories have started to break.

• “AI companies” describe tools, not power

• “Platforms” describe distribution, not control

• “Big Tech” describes size, not structure

What actually differentiates the most durable companies today is not model quality, feature velocity, or quarterly execution.

It is structural proximity to reality.

RICs sit where:

• signals are generated

• decisions are made

• actions propagate back into the world

This framework exists to describe that structure clearly.

The RIC framework exists to prevent a common analytical error in the AI era:

mistaking tools for control.

It prevents over-indexing on models while under-weighting the layers those models operate on.

It prevents sector-based thinking in a world where power compounds across layers, not industries.

And it prevents confusing rapid innovation with durable advantage.

RICs are not defined by what they build — but by what they operate.

A company qualifies as a Reality Infrastructure Company only if it meets all four conditions below.

1. Ownership of a live, non-replicable reality layer

The company controls data that is:

• continuously updating

• structurally tied to real-world activity

• impossible to recreate externally

Examples include search intent, attention, discourse, commerce flows, or physical-world sensing.

2. Embedded distribution

The AI is not an optional feature or standalone tool.

It is embedded in default behavior:

• how people search

• how they communicate

• how they transact

• how they move through the world

3. Closed feedback loops

RICs operate closed loops where:

action → data → model → action

This creates compounding control, not incremental optimization.

4. First-party AI sovereignty

The company develops and controls its own core AI systems that operate the primary loop.

RICs do not depend on rented intelligence for the function that defines them.

Reality Infrastructure Companies operate a closed loop:

Reality → Data generation → AI control system → Action on reality → (repeat)

The tighter and more continuous this loop, the more durable the control.

RICs are not:

• AI wrappers

• SaaS tools using third-party models

• Companies with data but no control loop

• Firms where AI is additive rather than operational

Many successful companies use AI.

Very few run reality through it.

This term and framework were first articulated by Purpl in 2026 to describe a structural pattern existing categories failed to capture.

Reality Infrastructure Companies (RICs) is not an established industry term.

It was introduced to describe a structural pattern that existing language proved insufficient to explain.

If the term is adopted, it will be because it proves useful.

If it is not, the underlying structure remains unchanged.

Frameworks exist to clarify reality — not to own it.

Some companies sit close to RIC qualification without fully meeting the criteria.

Apple controls devices and distribution, but AI is not yet the primary control system operating the core loop.

OpenAI and similar labs control intelligence, but do not own a proprietary reality layer.

Many AI-first startups build powerful tools but operate downstream of infrastructure they do not control.

The distinction is structural, not qualitative.

The RIC Index is an application of this framework to publicly investable companies.

It is illustrative, not definitive.

The framework stands independently of any specific index construction.

Within Purpl, the RIC framework is used to:

• analyze long-term compounding power

• compare companies across traditional sectors

• reason about AI beyond models and benchmarks

The framework is designed for multi-decade structural analysis, not short-term forecasting or quarterly performance attribution.

Framework introduced: 2026

Revision cadence: As needed, when reality changes