[android521]

Unfortunately, dictators don't care much about damage to it's economy as long as they continue to be in power. When they expand and occupy more land, they will look very good in their country's history book which is a huge motivation for dictators. That's the reason why nobody thought Putin would seriously consider invasion but he did. And China will definitely attack Taiwan when the timing is right. Even if a million people dies, Xi would still be considered a hero by most chinese people if he took back Taiwan.

[re-thc]

> Unfortunately, dictators don't care much about damage to it's economy as long as they continue to be in power.

It's not a dictator issue. The stock markets have been crashing lately due to "non-dictators".

> Even if a million people dies, Xi would still be considered a hero by most chinese people if he took back Taiwan.

I doubt most Chinese people care. They have better things to worry about these days e.g. crashing real estate.

[rob74]

It remains to be seen if the person I think you are referring to is a non-dictator. He said he would be a "dictator on day one", and he sure was, but then he somehow forgot to revert to non-dictator mode...

Regarding "crashing real estate": actually, most other countries would love to have built enough to bring down real estate prices. Being able to afford a place to live is good for most people! But of course, investing in real estate makes you interested into increasing the value of your property, so you're now incentivized to stop more real estate being built (and also to stop anything else that might decrease the value of your property - thus NIMBYism).

[qwertox]

Russia is out of the AI race. That has been lost and there's no way to reverse it.

If Russia wouldn't have started a war, it could have focused on building huge datacenters. It has all the energy it would have needed, now all it can do with it is sell it to China for cheap.

[cutemonster]

What does Putin care about AI? From his perspective, a war and making Russia bigger, and being the supreme commander, is more fun.

Remember, he's old, probably a bit tech incompetent (compared to most people here).

> [Russia] could have focused on building huge datacenters.

Maybe that's what you think is important (or even what is important), but Putin is a different creature

[qwertox]

AI will, after all, become the second biggest weapon humanity has ever created.

[lupusreal]

That's only relevant to Putin's decision making processes if he shares that perspective.

[etiam]

"Artificial intelligence is the future, not only for Russia, but for all humankind," [...] "It comes with colossal opportunities, but also threats that are difficult to predict. Whoever becomes the leader in this sphere will become the ruler of the world."

Vladimir Putin, 2017-09-01

https://www.twz.com/14141/putin-says-whoever-has-the-best-ar...

[etiam]

Oh, and:

"The most powerful AI chips in the world will be made right here in America and it'll be a big percentage of the chips made by this company (TSMC)"

Donald Trump, 2025-03-04

https://focustaiwan.tw/business/202503040017

[generic92034]

In which regard?

[amelius]

> Russia is out of the AI race. That has been lost and there's no way to reverse it.

Huh, anybody with a laptop and an internet connection can be in the AI race within a few months if not weeks or days.

[NewJazz]

Have you seen Russia's laptops?

https://www.anandtech.com/show/16827/russia-to-build-riscv-p...

[huijzer]

> Unfortunately, dictators don't care much about damage to it's economy as long as they continue to be in power.

I don’t know why you’re being downvoted but you are completely right. I would refer people who don’t believe this to Stephen Kotkin or Sarah Palin.