politics

Straight up, it would be mortally dangerous for federal US reps to bailout tech. The industry is wildly unpopular, has openly threatened labourers with forced redundancy, polluted and\or poisoned vulnerable communities, and houses some of the most famous billionaires in the country. This is not an industry that thousands of blue-collar workers depend on for wages and produces products that people need to survive. Also, the US state is subject to the most open resistance and condemnation it has had since the Civil Rights Era (even privileged groups find the erasure of wealth disparity appealing now too).

Seriously, I think if this were to happen, it would result in violent retaliation.

OFC we’re going to bail them out

I can't see a scenario where a bailout doesn't happen but I also don't see it being beneficial if a bailout does occur.

While the automakers bailout boosted an industry that was on major trouble, they were able to return to profitability in the end and pay back those loans right? The whole A.I. industry has never turned a profit, so even if we bail them out, the fundamental model as it is now would just revert to a known unprofitable state.

You could argue that you should bail out the hardware companies so you don't cripple the chip manufacturers, and foundries, but there is no financial benefit that I can see to bail out a llm developer. If you were going that route. I would say they have to nationalize the software companies but I don't want that being part of the government at fucking all.

Good. Let the ones who can, survive. Not be swarmed by zombies.

I... actually disagree with this even though I don't want to.

Yes, fuck OpenAI and Meta.

But the problem is that the government has been 500% enabling this "bubble". Basically any governent grant for the past five or six years has more or less required "AI" to be front and center. The more senior folk have generally been good about "I am doing Machine Learning enhanced construction of that office building, sure, whatever" but this, in turn, has more or less gutted academia as more and more programs have essentially been built around providing what funding is literally asking for. Flipping NOBODY thinks "I am a prompt engineer" is worth anything but scorn and mockery. But when those grants and CFPs basically require a prompt engineer on the proposal to have any chance of being accepted...

It's easy to say "you should have known better and not lied to us" but... they were telling the lies that were demanded of them. And just cutting them free and letting capitalism sort it out is going to mean pretty much an entire generation lost and countless companies down the drain as well. Which... also won't be all that useful for getting people healthcare.

Similarly, Jensen is a prick (and always has been but...). But if the rug gets pulled and the "bubble pops"? nVidia is not a US company but it is essential to the US economy and capabilities. We can't afford to let that go the way of Intel.

Do I think giant checks should be written? No. But we need a LOT of transition grants and programs and possibly outright stimulus checks so that the entire tech and research and science industries can pivot to what is being asked of them now.