For some time now, the tech elite have been espousing a growing set of libertarian ideals and philosophies. They\u2019ve warned of government regulation as the death of innovation, called for \u201cbuilding\u201d no matter the cost, and even concocted plans for their own societies free of government regulation or taxation.<\/p>\n
But when it comes to AI\u2014perhaps the most hyped realm of \u201cprivate innovation\u201d\u2014growth would be impossible without the backing of the very entity Silicon Valley says stifles them so much: the government.<\/p>\n
Today, the federal government and the biggest tech firms building AI have brokered exclusive procurement and land deals to keep the power amongst a few players. Under the cover that this consolidation is necessary to keep the United States competitive globally, OpenAI, Oracle, and Meta are all angling for long-term marriages with the Trump administration to build data centers, grow their market shares, and further proliferate their products into a level of ubiquity.<\/p>\n
But what is the benefit to the public of just a few players hoarding land resources and procurement of big-dollar federal contracts? Are the funds to build and scale colossal data centers being deployed sustainably? And who is reaping the profit from this rapid AI expansion?<\/p>\n
As I was drafting this piece, I spotted a WIRED report about how the Trump administration is disappearing AI blog posts written during the tenure of former Federal Trade Commission chair, Lina Khan. Khan was and is a champion of competition and monopoly-busting\u2014and many of the erased blog posts focused on the enablement of open source AI and consumer protection.<\/p>\n
By deleting these posts, the administration is showing their cards on AI policy: that despite publicly alleging their support of free markets, competition, and choice, they are not serious about decentralizing any of the power in the AI ecosystem. In fact, they and their Big Tech AI partners are pushing for the opposite result\u2014emboldened to consolidate, all at the expense of competition, user experience, and potential growth among smaller AI firms. Not so libertarian if you ask me!<\/p>\n
With all of this in mind, Hard Reset spoke with researcher Sarah West, the co-executive director of a think tank advocating for an AI that benefits the public interest, not just a select few. We discuss this consolidation of power among a few AI players\u2014and how the government is actually hindering the development of healthier competition and consumer-friendly AI products, while flirting with financial disaster.<\/p>\n
Read the full interview here.
\nThe post The fusing of AI firms and the state is leading to a dangerous concentration of power appeared first on AI Now Institute.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
With all of this in mind, Hard Reset spoke with researcher Sarah West, the co-executive director of a think tank advocating for an AI that benefits the public interest, not just a select few. We discuss this consolidation of power among a few AI players\u2014and how the government is actually hindering the development of healthier competition and consumer-friendly AI products, while flirting with financial disaster.<\/p>\n
The post The fusing of AI firms and the state is leading to a dangerous concentration of power<\/a> appeared first on AI Now Institute<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-container-style":"default","site-container-layout":"default","site-sidebar-layout":"default","disable-article-header":"default","disable-site-header":"default","disable-site-footer":"default","disable-content-area-spacing":"default","footnotes":""},"categories":[1,13,86],"tags":[3],"class_list":["post-147","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ai-and-ml","category-news","category-press","tag-ai"],"yoast_head":"\n