Warning Shots AI Regulation Is Being Bulldozed — And Silicon Valley Is Winning | Warning Shots Ep. 21
Dec 14, 2025
A sweeping U.S. executive order threatens to centralize AI control in Silicon Valley, squashing state regulations. The hosts explore chess as a metaphor for how humans underestimate rapid tech advancements. Argentina's initiative to provide AI tutors to schoolchildren raises concerns about educational power dynamics. McDonald's generative ad failure illustrates public resistance to AI. And Google’s CEO shifts job displacement blame to society, igniting debate about responsibility in a rapidly changing labor market.
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Federal Power Grab Risks Centralized Control
- The federal executive order centralizes AI rulemaking and aims to block state-level regulations.
- John Sherman and Liron Shapira warn this hands control to Silicon Valley and undermines state policy experiments.
Slow Change Often Hides Sudden Collapse
- AI performance can feel like slow, steady progress until a rapid phase transition wipes out human advantage.
- The hosts compare chess and horses graphs to show sudden obsolescence of skills and professions.
Narrow Wins Predict Broad Encroachment
- AI progress in narrow tasks (like chess) foreshadows broader, faster encroachments on open, complex domains.
- Michael Zafiris warns that real-world complexity won't stop rapid capability gains from displacing many professions.