"The Fermi Paradox Is Our Business Model" is a science fiction short story by American writer Charlie Jane Anders.

[1] An alien race called Falshi uses the creation of civilizations and the Fermi Paradox as a means of accumulating and collecting valuable resources.

Their "business model" consists of the following steps: It is illegal to outright invade one of the seeded civilizations, and the Falshi must wait for them to drive themselves into extinction without outside interference.

The percentage of civilizations that survive to an interstellar stage is actually so astronomically low that out of billions of planets to choose from, a single survey ship might never encounter one.

Fearful of escalating the situation further, Toku cuts off communication and waits until the humans’ dwindling air supply forces them to return to Earth.