Smart Cookies AI empires are here - what are they after? With Nick Srnicek
8 snips
Jul 18, 2025 
Join Nick Srnicek, a Senior Lecturer in Digital Economy and author of 'Silicon Empires: The Fight for the Future,' as he dives deep into the motivations of AI leaders like Peter Thiel and Elon Musk. He discusses the implications of military contracts for AI companies and raises ethical concerns about power dynamics in the industry. The conversation also critiques the concept of universal basic income amidst automation, contrasting neoliberal and nationalistic ideologies in tech, and the need for collective action to shape a future that benefits society.
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AI: Beyond Parrots and Superintelligence
- Current AI technologies like large language models are not yet artificial superintelligence but more than just sophisticated pattern matchers.
- AI is a transformative technology similar to the steam engine or electricity, with impacts unfolding over decades.
Diverse AI Leadership Visions
- AI leaders like Peter Thiel and Elon Musk hold different, sometimes conflicting, visions shaping Silicon Valley.
- Some focus on global neoliberal markets; others pursue nationalist or geopolitical supremacy, especially in US-China rivalry.
High Ideals or Power Quest
- Many AI elites believe in grand ideas like interplanetary civilization or AGI as a new evolutionary stage.
- Fundamentally, their actions are primarily driven by power and profit interests today.
