The people who run AI companies are not fools. They know how dangerous their technology is—and they also know how much money they can make from it. When Anthropic has its initial public offering, its top executives will be multi-billionaires, in the same class as the Zuckerbergs and the Thiels and the Bezoses and maybe even close to the Musks of the world.
With that money, we all know, comes immense political power.
Real, serious regulations on AI would, by definition, threaten those riches and that power.
Sure, the head of Anthropic wants some rules. Modest federal regs that would make sure Anthropic still gets its trillion-dollar IPO (and maybe makes sure that none of the competitors can beat that company to the Stock Exchange bell) are a grand idea.
A moratorium on data centers is not.
The news broke today that a PAC funded in part by Anthropic donated $3 million to defeat Sup. Connie Chan for Congress. That money will go for a massive blitz of last-minute attacks on Chan.
It’s no secret what’s going on here: The AI industry wants state Sen. Scott Wiener in Congress.
Regulation of AI has become a huge issue in the Congressional race. Wiener has repeatedly said that he authored the first major state bill regulating AI in the nation. He doesn’t say that the AI industry, including Anthropic, supported that bill.
The bill requires some transparency—but no significant liability. It reminds me of the Price-Anderson Act, which made nuclear power possible in the United States by limiting the amount of liability a utility company could face in a nuclear disaster. Without that bill, nuclear power plants would be uninsurable.
A real AI regulation act would mandate that AI companies pay the full cost of any damage their products cause, either to individuals or to national or international infrastructure. Wiener’s bill stopped well short of that.
Again: The folks who are putting up $3 million to elect Wiener are not fools. They know who they think would best represent them in Congress.
Full disclosure: My independent adult daughter works on the Connie Chan for Congress campaing.
