It started with Trump’s inauguration. The presence of all of the leading tech barons was the clearest demonstration possible that they were all in for him. He has delivered for them, too; he cut their taxes, treated them as national champions in negotiations with foreign countries, and did his best to prevent states from regulating them.
The message to the rest of America is that we have the power, and you don’t. We will impose AI on you whether you like it or not. If you are concerned about the impacts of data centers, or if you worry about losing your job, or if you believe our hype about destroying humanity, too bad. AI is unstoppable. You will just have to live with it, no matter how dire the results are, because we say so.
Is it any wonder that a large majority of Americans, including parts of Trump’s reactionary base, are outraged by this message? Will the barons respond to their anger by encouraging Trump to become even more autocratic? Probably.