Concentrated AI markets can lock out new competitors

Transcript

Transcribed by machine (Whisper) from the episode’s audio, so a word may be off here and there.

1. 5:27

   from the macro climate that's happening here, especially because you have your background at the DOJ. How has AI, how has maybe new types of monopolies that are being created because of this technology made the type of work that people are trying to do around antitrust law at the DOJ a lot more difficult. Maybe Jonathan, we can start with you. Yeah. So I think there are two vectors here. One is the technology as a disruptor and as a transformational agent of change in the marketplace. And then the second is technology as a tool to help do the work that lawyers do. In terms of the transformational change, AI has the potential. First of all, I don't believe it's sentient. I don't believe it's going to rise up and kill people. I think that's overblown but it is a very significant development it is going to change how we live and

2. 6:21

   work uh and think and and but but the people it's scaring people people are afraid they're hearing their jobs are going to go away they're hearing it's going to rise up and kill us with robots or it's going to take over our nuclear arsenal or or spread um diseases throughout the country by or the world. And I think that there's a better, more responsible way to talk about the technology as a tool to help people do things that have value. And so part of our vision and our mission is how do we do that? In terms of the antitrust environment, we did a lot of work in the previous generation of tech where it consolidated and concentrated around a small number of players.

3. 7:03

   And we heard a lot from folks out here that those large players were blocking opportunities for smaller little tech companies to compete for the next generation of entrepreneurs to succeed on the merits. And so we tried to unblock it as best we could. But there should be some lessons that we've learned, which is that if we let markets concentrate, we let a small number of players own a market and then extend and expand their moats to the point where nobody can win and succeed on the merits, then we're not going to get the kind of innovation we need.

4. 7:35

   We're not going to get the kind of benefits we need. And so I think we have to be attuned to those risks now. And I like to say it's much easier to mold clay than it is to chisel marble. And so if we want to have a free and fair market, we have to fight for it now and make sure that it's there when we need it. Yeah, completely. Anything you want to add? Yeah, I mean, I agree with all of that. I also think that there are Ways that the failures of the last generation to take on very big problems have now evaded a lot of frameworks that have existed for a long time to make sure that we are still a society governed by law and that people can have the benefits of technology. You know, there's reporting recently about ed tech, right? Like we can't get abusive monopolies that courts have found over and over

5. 8:26

   again to have violated the law out of classrooms for you know the youngest students right both jonathan and our parents um that's very disturbing and so what we see is a broader environment where the subordination of laws that promote innovation that promote responsible tech have just been been obliterated, and we now have an environment where many people's rights are being infringed, including some of the biggest companies in the economy, small mom and pops, regular people, consumers, workers.

6. 9:07

   And what's fun about FluxCap is we are opinionated. We have built tools for people who want to vindicate their rights, and that's really exciting.