It’s just a natural side effect of state capitalism. When you constantly mix government with business you almost always get a government that props up large old companies and then those businesses directly fund the politicians to back them. National security is then used as a sales pitch to justify helping the big companies when normally it’d be a social angle for smaller ones (or a social angle for internal big company policies).

The less government is in the business of subsidies, special tax carveouts, and bailouts the less it happens. Likewise with regulations and IP laws that are often designed by the top companies in their favour.

I have a feeling CHIPS is going to a classic example in retrospect, a wealth transfer to stodgy oligopolies, not about market development. Likewise with inventing AI regulations in an immature market before the risks are fully understood.