> Only belatedly did they realize that declaring that your technology will wreak devastation would lead to a public backlash, and that this backlash would be a serious problem.

Many people think this is how things have played out, but I find it hard to believe. I know half these tech execs are hopped up on Ketamine or something, but even that can't make them this disconnected from reality. I mean, fine, "AI will take all the jobs" might appeal to some Capitalists (the smarter ones know how that will work out long term)... but also "AI could destroy the world"?! That is appealing to nobody!

The usual explanation for this is "angling for regulatory capture" but (a) this only hinders US companies, which helps China, which is the real competition, and (b) the more realistic outcome, as Anthropic is finding out, is complete lockdown.

The datacenter backlash was not just a logical outcome a caveman could have predicted, it has actually been happening and growing since 2024... but they still kept saying those things.

It was always terrible marketing and they knew it, but to them it isn't marketing. They feel compelled to say it again and again because they actually believe it.