Pioneers of AI How today’s AI giants mirror global empires of the past, with journalist Karen Hao
Jul 9, 2025
Karen Hao, a journalist and author of the New York Times bestseller 'Empire of AI', dives into the parallels between AI giants and historical empires. She critiques OpenAI's evolution from altruism to corporate ambitions, highlighting labor exploitation and ethical dilemmas in tech. Hao shares a poignant story of a Venezuelan refugee affected by data annotation work and discusses the critical need for diversity in AI. Her insights push for a reevaluation of how we build technology to foster a more equitable future.
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AI Companies as Modern Empires
- Major AI companies like OpenAI resemble historical empires in their operation and reach.
- They claim resources, exploit labor, monopolize knowledge, and frame themselves as the 'good empire' against a convenient 'evil empire'.
Oscarina’s Data Annotation Struggle
- Oscarina, a Venezuelan refugee, worked as a data annotator earning a low and unstable income.
- She limited her daily life severely to secure scarce tasks on the annotation platform.
Content Moderators’ Mental Toll
- OpenAI's content moderators face severe mental health impacts from reviewing toxic sexual content daily.
- Moffat lost connection with his family due to the emotional toll of his work.
