Quote · This Week in Tech (Audio)
TWiT 1089: Robot Butt Crack - Anthropic Banned, But Winning
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Political AI: OpenAI's Washington Playbook vs. Anthropic's Naivety
At 20:01 · chapter starts 20:00
Owen Thomas delivers the sharpest political insight of the episode: OpenAI's chief global affairs officer Chris Lehane is the same mastermind who navigated Airbnb through city-by-city regulatory wars, and Anthropic needs to 'staff the F up in Washington.' Leo adds that OpenAI's Greg Brockman donated millions to Trump's PAC, OpenAI pledged 10% of its IPO to the US government, and Sam Altman stood next to Trump at the inaugural for Stargate. Anthropic did none of this and got banned. Doc Rock invokes the prohibition analogy: banning AI, like banning alcohol or drugs, will drive it underground and ultimately fail. The conversation turns to whether Trump may simply be reading polls showing that 61% of Americans don't want AI in products at all.
Only 16% of people surveyed said AI was actually helpful in their products, while 61% said they didn't want AI in any products at all.
71% of Americans surveyed said they do not want data centers built near them, reflecting growing public concern about noise, electricity, and environmental impact.
