The thinking in this article seems muddled to me. Historically there are two fundamental models for rivalries between powerful economic actors and national governments.

* Regulatory capture - AI Labs [partially] capture government functions, i.e., take over. In practice this equates to oligarchy.

* Nationalization - Government takes over AI labs through some form of direct or indirect control (e.g., dirigisme).

The article discussion does not seem to consider either of them. And the idea that AI labs would act in the interest of citizens at large seems laughable. In practice it looks like California Forever [0], which is quite the opposite.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Forever

edit: clarity

This is kinda scary to think about... If we at some point have to pay a 'token-tax' or 'AI-tax' just to have access to something that may be embedded in all aspects of life... I fear society will get even more divided.

[dead]