AI Companies Don’t Want You to See What’s Coming
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| By Nilus Mattive |
Word on Wall Street is that Anthropic is finally ready to go ahead with its IPO.
Lo and behold, just ahead of that, the company has begun talking about putting 5% of its stock into some kind of public good fund.
That could initially be worth somewhere between $75 billion and $100 billion.
There are also additional kickers and milestones.
For example, the company says co-founders and employees will throw in extra stock right off the bat.
It also says it will make additional 2% contributions for every 50% jump in the company’s valuation.
Add it all up and we could be talking about several hundred billion of Anthropic’s market cap tucked into an LLC that the company will supposedly use to help offset possible disruptions caused by the rise of AI.
Sounds really nice, right?
Well, I think it’s just peanuts being thrown to the circus animals.
And yes, WE are the circus animals in the analogy.
These companies know just how potentially disruptive AI technology is.
As I’ve said before … this is not like laying railroad tracks, creating an automated assembly line or linking people together through computers and fiber optic cables.
It is not even like building a nuclear bomb, which still requires a human button pusher.
It is more like trying to develop a new species, one that could evolve in completely unanticipated ways.
The AI companies know this. They are openly saying it themselves.
Putting aside the really big threats — like the 10% probability that AI will wipe out the human race in the next ten years — Dario Amodei, Anthropic’s CEO, has already said he thinks the technology will destroy half of all entry-level white-collar jobs by the year 2030!
Yet the companies are also locked in a race with each other for ultimate supremacy.
So they have to keep it going and these token payments are just bribes to keep public dissent in check.
This isn’t necessarily a nefarious plot or an overarching conspiracy theory, though I certainly do question the motives of some of the people involved in this brand-new video alert.
Still, even the best-intentioned AI titans are like politicians running for office.
They might truly believe they’re best qualified for the job. They might be the most ethical future governors of this technology, too.
But no matter who wins, we’ll still be the servants.
And again, there’s no guarantee that ANYONE will be able to stay in control of AI itself.
Which brings me to Elon Musk.
In order to compete with Anthropic, Musk recently pledged to give a share of SpaceX (SPCX) to every kid in America.
SpaceX was recently trading around $150 a share.
Wow, how generous!
Don’t spend it all in one place, kids.
With about 73 million minors in America right now, the total value of this offer is around $11 billion.
Musk himself is currently worth about a trillion.
So this is the equivalent of a millionaire giving away $10,000.
No word on what all the American adults will get, either.
Of course, in an interview earlier this year, Musk also said:
“Don’t worry about squirreling money away for retirement in 10 or 20 years. It won’t matter.”
In his version of the future — or at least the one he discusses publicly — people will no longer need currency at all.
Technological leaps with AI, energy and robotics will provide everything we need.
Indeed, he sees an age of abundance where everybody does well … gets top-quality healthcare … and is free to do whatever they want with their time.
Yet, even if I accept this outcome, I’m left with questions both practical and philosophical.
If everyone receives a “universal high income” as Musk suggests, how does anyone further advance their lot in life?
Perhaps the greatest aspect of the current American system is the ability for someone to start off with nothing and build a great fortune. Or at least have a very good shot at doing better than their parents did.
In this new world, do we simply all stay where we were when it began?
If so, we are currently nearing the end of the biggest game of musical chairs in humanity’s history … one that could usher in a huge wave of social unrest as large swaths of the population realize what has taken place.
Meanwhile, on a deeper level, if AI can do everything, what will be the point of doing anything?
For example, I have played the guitar my entire life. I used to perform in a band. And I still write songs from time to time.
Musk’s future promises me plenty of time to get back into playing my music out in the world.
But how compelled will I be to even write new songs when AI can essentially write a million of them in a day?
And who will want to come hear mine when a trillion new songs are released every year?
The entire creative pursuit of writing and performing music could become hollow.
I suspect it will be even worse for visual artists. And actors. And writers.
Maybe you think athletes will be spared.
Well, the headlines are already celebrating the fact that a Chinese humanoid robot recently broke Usain Bolt’s 100-meter world record at the 2026 World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing.
You know what I say?
Who cares! My Ford Bronco is already faster than Usain Bolt, too.
Will we all just sit around and watch robotic football players compete against each other in the year 2035?
We need more than a few public good funds that amount to small percentages of the fortunes being created … including answers to much bigger and deeper questions.
Because my child’s future is worth more than $150. Or $15,000. Or even $1,500,000.
And even a several-hundred-billion-dollar public fund would only amount to a couple hundred dollars for every American currently in the workforce.
Meanwhile, it could very well be true that currency won’t be important in the future.
That doesn’t change the possibility that all the POWER will be concentrated in the hands of a few technology oligarchs and their AI models.
Which is why I’m especially concerned about people like OpenAI’s Sam Altman and why I think the best-case scenario is a massive stock market crash that resets the clock on this entire technology arms race.
Bottom line: It’s going to take a lot more than a couple token payments to convince me that what these companies are working on will be good for most of humanity.
Best wishes,
Nilus Mattive
P.S. I’ve really just scratched the surface in this short article. Which is why I recommend you watch my brand-new video — “CrashGPT” — right away.
It doesn’t just get deeper into what I see coming. At the end, it also tells you what protective steps I recommend taking right away. Just click here now.
