Eric Schmidt compares OpenAI and Anthropic to modern colonial trading companies
In brief
- Eric Schmidt compares OpenAI and Anthropic to modern colonial trading companies in Foreign Affairs.
- The US and China are framed as AI empires while other nations remain dependent.
- US companies plan to invest over $600 billion in AI in 2026.
In a Foreign Affairs article, historian Niall Ferguson, researcher Lisa Klaassen, and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt portray the US and China as AI empires, reducing other countries to dependencies. They argue the AI race will be won not by technological breakthroughs but by who can fund it. US corporations alone plan to spend over $600 billion in 2026. Yet rising debt, protests against data centers, and a potential chip crisis over Taiwan could slow both superpowers according to the announcement.
What it changes for you
- Public SectorGovernments and public institutions may need to rethink their strategies amid the dominance of US and Chinese tech empires.
This summary gives you the essentials. The full article, its figures and quotes are on The Decoder.
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