Future Discontinuous Can we resist the AI empire, Karen Hao?
10 snips
Nov 19, 2025 
In this engaging discussion, Karen Hao, an award-winning journalist and author of the bestselling 'Empire of AI,' delves into the complexities of artificial intelligence and OpenAI's evolution. She highlights the shift from altruism to commercialism within AI, drawing parallels between tech giants and historical empires. Karen also addresses the AGI race between the US and China, critiques the hype around AI productivity, and underscores the environmental costs of expansive data centers. With her insights, she calls for accountability and specialized AI models for sustainable progress.
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Nonprofit Origins Didn’t Lock In Altruism
- OpenAI began as a nonprofit but quickly shifted toward competitive, profit-driven behavior as it sought talent and influence.
- Karen Hao argues ego and rivalry with Google drove commercialization more than pure altruism.
AI Firms As Modern Empires
- Big AI firms operate like empires by claiming external data, exploiting labor, and monopolizing talent.
- Hao maps four empire-like traits to modern AI companies, linking scale and political power to dispossession.
AGI Is A Shifting Political Concept
- AGI lacks a clear scientific definition because human intelligence itself is undefined and contested.
- Companies shape AGI's meaning to fit audiences, from digital assistant to labor-automation promise.
