Marc Andreessen was a guest on the Lex Fridman podcast a few months ago. Among the many interesting topics they discussed was a conversation about the Baptist and Bootlegger theory. In short, this theory illustrates how disparate groups may unexpectedly align to support and/or lobby for the same regulations or policies. The most classic example is how the Baptists and Bootleggers aligned in their interests of banning alcohol during the Prohibition era. The Baptists for moral reason and Bootleggers to increase their alcohol sales.
Recently, Sam Altman appeared in front of congress begging for regulations against open source AI. These big AI companies are asking the government to regulate the development of AI to a few "trusted" tech companies.
Marc then compares this theory to Sam Altman, and the leaders of other Big Tech companies, begging for regulations against open source AI, saying "Economists will tell you it's the same pattern every time ... this is what's happened dozens and dozens of times throughout the last 100 years".
It is clear that Andreessen is referring to these big AI companies rent seeking and riding off the backs of the general public's fear of the possibilities of AI, to get regulations passed that create barriers of entry into the AI field. Big Tech companies are known for being extremely slow to change and adapt, which is why new successful tech startups are constantly emerging. These AI regulations would efficiently make it impossible for new startups to enter the space and compete against these tech giants.
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