Billionaire Nerds & Their AI: Postscript

Congress, the Justice Department, the CIA, and the DoD cannot be trusted to control A.I. oligarchs.

Several of my readers have reproached me for suggesting that it’s better for Trump to make deals with the Lords of Tech instead of shunning them. I have carefully read and considered their comments, but for me, the pressing question remains: if President Trump doesn’t corral these guys to his side, what branch of government is going to control A.I. oligarchs? Do readers really believe that Congress, the Justice Department, the CIA, and the DoD can be trusted to control them?

If I were President Trump, I would not trust any of these agencies to do a better job of controlling these guys. I would want to be in daily contact with the Lords of Tech and have my own eyes on them.

This issue raises a question that has long perplexed historians and political philosophers—namely, where does power truly reside in any given polity? For example, do powerful families and oligarchs answer to the military, or does the military do the bidding of powerful families and oligarchs?

According to US Marine Corps major general Smedley Butler, during his long career, the military did the bidding of bankers and industrialists.

I can think of a few moments in history when a powerful executive rose to a position of preeminence over all other great lords—Augustus in Rome, Lorenzo the Magnificent in Florence, Louis XIV in France come to mind. However, for most of history, the chief executive has been obliged to do deals with the rich and powerful or run the high risk of being eliminated by them.