Make no mistake--AI is owned by Big Tech

The recent OpenAI saga, in which Microsoft exerted its quiet but firm dominance over the "capped profit" entity, provides a powerful demonstration of what we've been analyzing for the last half-decade. To wit: those with the money make the rules. And right now, they're engaged in a race to the bottom, releasing systems before they're ready in an attempt to retain their dominant position. Relying on a few unaccountable corporate actors for core infrastructure is a problem for democracy, culture, and individual and collective agency. Without significant intervention, the AI market will only end up rewarding and entrenching the very same companies that reaped the profits of the invasive surveillance business model that has powered the commercial internet, often at the expense of the public. The Cambridge Analytica scandal was just one among many that exposed this seedy reality.