Elon Musk has been called the “shadow president.” He furiously posted criticism of the government budget bill, leading to its rejection. He also organized a political action committee supporting Trump and strongly backed his election. He jointly leads the newly established Government Efficiency Department. In this new term, American high-tech entrepreneurs are keen on participating in politics, especially those in the AI industry. For example, Mark Andreessen and David Sacks serve as Trump’s technology advisers and participate in AI review systems. David Sacks has also been appointed as the person in charge of AI and cryptocurrency affairs in the White House. OpenAI prohibits robots imitating Democratic presidential candidates from using ChatGPT technology. Workday lobbies in several states. AI entrepreneurs apply their company’s technologies to the military. For instance, OpenAI cooperates with Anduril to develop anti-drone systems. The founder of Anduril is also an early supporter of Trump. In the previous term, American high-tech entrepreneurs often chose to stay away or strive for neutrality in politics and ideology. For example, Bezos announced that his Washington Post would not support any candidate. The founders of Google maintained the openness and freedom of the internet, opposing US government censorship and the SOPA bill. Bill Gates once said he would “not participate in politics,” but recently his secret donation has broken the myth of “political neutrality.” It is unknown whether entrepreneurs have changed or if AI has become a geopolitical marker. This phenomenon makes it difficult to predict where AI or the technology industry will be pushed. For example, under the US policy of banning chip exports to China, Nvidia may permanently lose the opportunity to compete in the Chinese market.
Posted on December 25, 2024, at 6:16:52 PM on Wednesday.
