I helped build Facebook. I watched it become a machine for addicting people. Because addiction was more profitable.
Now the same logic is driving AI. I wrote about what we do about it. 🧵
The public isn’t checked out. They’re locked out. And when 66% of Americans agree on anything in this country, leaders should pay attention. This isn’t politically impossible. It’s the beginning of a mandate.
AI is built on all of us: every book ever written, every idea ever published, generations of collective human culture. Companies are adding a thin layer of math on top and capturing trillions in value. The public deserves a stake in the wealth and ownership that follows.
My 5 year old daughter Evie asked what my Fortune piece is about.
I said, "We need to change what AI companies get money for. And have that get decided by everyone. Because currently, companies can get money for hurting the world."
She looked at me like this was crazy: “Wait, we give people money for hurting the world? We should do the opposite.”
https://t.co/yeHp3JoAfN
Great question about non-compliant actors.
This is the same objection people raised about nuclear arms control. But the answer wasn't 'since some actors won't comply, nobody should have rules.' It was 'build a verification regime that makes defection detectable and costly.' We need the same for AI, and democratic governance is what gives those rules legitimacy across borders.
Fortunately, at least for now, the most consequential AI capabilities — training frontier models, economy-scale automation — require advanced compute: chips, data centers, energy. A small number of democratic states control that supply chain. That's a real enforcement lever.
This won't solve every problem. But it solves a bunch of the ones that matter most.
There's a harder question your post doesn't fully wrestle with.
Regulations govern the willing.
The Anthropics and OpenAIs of the world will follow democratic frameworks — they have investors, headquarters, and reputations that governments can actually reach. Compliance is baked into their survival.
The actors who won't follow the rules are precisely the ones capable of the most damage. Rogue states. Well-funded criminal networks. Researchers operating outside any jurisdiction. And here's the uncomfortable part — *they'll have a competitive advantage* because they're not slowed down by compliance.
66% of Americans support citizen panels on AI rules.
Trump voters, Biden voters, swing voters: nearly identical.
After years working on this — digging into the research, talking to people across the country — I've landed in the same place.
Here's a plan for public control of AI: https://t.co/tzch3i0YwN
@davidshor@tedlieu@_KarenHao
I helped build Facebook. I watched it become a machine for addicting people. Because addiction was more profitable.
Now the same logic is driving AI. I wrote about what we do about it. 🧵
The White House wants to let the companies sort it out. We know how that ends.
The question is whether we demand democratic governance before AI goes the way of social media.
Fortune op-ed: https://t.co/REdSzEV2vN
We're honored to be named #15 on @FastCompany's #FCMostInnovative Companies list & #1 in the Workplace category! Thank you #teamasana who always puts our customers first—we're proud to be pioneering the future of work & empowering the world's teams. https://t.co/H2J2yRy6JS
The more I've studied the nature of our current economic system, the more I've started to see its bugs, its security holes. It's as if you were trying to run a modern civilization on Windows 95.
🙏 @samfragoso@TalkEasyPod https://t.co/cpBF84JUo9
thank you, @rubenharris 🙏🏾. helping humanity thrive is something everyone can participate in, and also what we aspire to be and do at @oneproject https://t.co/MzsvDKKtNO
@pitdesi A simple framework is:
What products are "nice to have vs. need to have" during a bear market?
What companies are solving problems further down Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs?
https://t.co/ErQQ9H3P3C
I also like @rosenstein's "helping humanity thrive" concept
I’m the founder of @somewhere__good, a new Black-owned social platform.
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