[bpodgursky]

You guys can hate him, but Alex Karp of Palantir had the most honest take on this recently which was basically:

"Yes, I would love to pause AI development, but unless we get China to do the same, we're f***, and there's no advantage unilaterally disarming" (not exact, but basically this)

You can assume bad faith on the parts of all actors, but a lot of people in AI feel similarly.

[testbjjl]

In China, I wonder if the same narrative is happening, no new junior devs, threats of obsolescence, etc. Or are they collectively, see the future differently?

[steveklabnik]

Most reporting I've seen rhymes with this, from last year https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/jun/05/english-s...

[SlightlyLeftPad]

They absolutely see the future differently because their society is already set up for success in an AI world. If what these predictions say become true, free market capitalism will collapse. What would be left?

[biophysboy]

The reason you think its honest is because you already believed it.

[bpodgursky]

What does he gain by saying "Yes I'd love to shut all of this down"?

[coldtea]

He gets to pretend to be impartial ("sure, I've love to shut this down and lose the billions coming my way"),

and by pretending that he has no option but to "go against his own will" and continue it, he gets to make it sound nuclear-bomb-level important.

This is hyping 101.

[biophysboy]

Its rhetoric - he gains your support. He doesn't want to shut it down.

[bpodgursky]

You should really step back and think, maybe you've spun a very complicated web of beliefs on top of your own eyes.

Yes, maybe everyone is playing 8 dimensional chess and every offhand comment is a subtle play for credibility. Or maybe sometimes people just say what they think.

[biophysboy]

This is what I think:

- Alex Karp genuinely believes China is a threat

- I think China is an economic threat, especially for tech

- An AI arms race is itself threatening; it is not like the nuclear deterrent

- Geopolitical tensions are very convenient for Alex Karp

- America has a history of exaggerating geopolitical threats

- Tech is very credulous with politics

[coldtea]

"This late night informercial guy is not genuinely believing the product to be amazing, he's just saying shit to sell it"

"Yes, maybe everyone is playing 8 dimensional chess and every offhand comment is a subtle play for credibility. Or maybe sometimes people just say what they think".

I mean, dude, a corporate head having a conflict of interest in saying insincere shit to promote the stuff his company makes is not some conspiracy thinking about everybody playing "8 dimensional chess".

It's the very basic baseline case.

[bpodgursky]

If he was making nuclear weapons, would you question the statement, "I would be happy if everyone stopped making nuclear weapons, but if China is making them, we can't unilaterally disarm"? I'm very willing to believe a CEO who says that! They are human beings!

Whether or not you believe it, a lot of people view advanced AI the same way.

[NoGravitas]

> You can assume bad faith on the parts of all actors, but a lot of people in AI feel similarly.

Or claim to.

[tonyedgecombe]

Yeah but it’s in his interest to encourage an arms race with China.

[bpodgursky]

OK, but the other view equally compatible with the evidence is that he is scared of getting rolled by an AI-dominant China and that's why he's building tools for the dept of defense.

Like I said you can believe whatever you want about good-faith motives, but he didn't have to say he wanted to pause AI, he could have been bright-and-cheery bullish, there was no real advantage to laying his cards out on his qualms.

[heraldgeezer]

Answer the question.

If the USA pauses AI development, do you think China will?

[verzali]

What about the reverse? If China announces a unilateral pause, would the US follow?

[coldtea]

"I would love to stop getting your money, but consider the children/China/some disaster/various scenarios. That's why you should continue to shower me with billions".

[didntknowyou]

oh please. people said that about the moon, and nuclear weapons too. and yet it's the one side who has a track record of using new technology to intidmidate.

[heraldgeezer]

HN has become so marxist they hate the country they live in

[Balinares]

Oh no! What a pity. In hindsight, mind you, countries that treat their population like disposable labor units to be wrung dry and then discarded, tend to see the population develop opinions about that eventually.

[heraldgeezer]

>disposable labor units

This is the source of migration allowance but I bet you stand there with a "Refugees welcome" sign.