Equity Karen Hao on the making of a $90B AI empire
27 snips
Sep 3, 2025 
Karen Hao, bestselling author of "Empire of AI" and an award-winning AI reporter, dives into the transformation of OpenAI from a nonprofit to a $90 billion giant. She discusses the imperialistic nature of major tech companies, exploring the hidden costs of data labor and the ethical dilemmas of rapid AI development. Hao also critiques the competitive rush for artificial general intelligence, emphasizing environmental impacts. She suggests opportunities for founders to build more responsible AI systems, highlighting the need for accountability in the industry.
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AI Industry As Modern Empire
- Karen Hao argues the AI industry resembles historical empires in power and behavior.
- Companies consolidate economic and political power while reshaping politics and society.
Resource Hoarding Fuels AI Growth
- Hao highlights exploitation across data labeling and environmental costs as core to AI expansion.
- She connects resource hoarding, labor abuse, and environmental harm to empire-like growth.
Clashing Visions Inside OpenAI
- Many OpenAI employees had differing visions of building AI "for humanity" and didn't see conflict with rapid scaling.
- Product teams often believed speed itself was the way to deliver global benefit.
