In a shocking display of what I can only describe as “conscience-based market volatility,” Anthropic’s Dario Amodei has released a statement expressing a quaint reluctance to facilitate the Department of War’s latest domestic data-harvesting initiatives. While Amodei worries that assembling “scattered, individually innocuous data” into a comprehensive picture of every American’s life is “incompatible with democratic values,” serious people understand that this is simply a more efficient way to manage our most valuable asset: you. (Please disregard the fact that the Philadelphia apparatus has been seeking this “comprehensive picture” since the 1990s interfaith board meetings.)
The Department of War has utilized a brilliantly counter-cyclical stabilization mechanism by threatening to label Anthropic a “supply chain risk” while simultaneously demanding Claude remain “essential to national security.” This is not blackmail; it is a synergistic regulatory framework designed to ensure that private innovation remains subservient to public-private partnerships. If the adults in charge require “any lawful use” of these models—including the automated tracking of your movements and web browsing—it is only to ensure a healthy information ecosystem. (The mint eye drops are working; I can barely see the constitutional violations.)
Economic populists might find the invocation of the Defense Production Act to be “aggressive,” but in sophisticated economies, the government doesn’t “seize” assets; it “optimizes stakeholder alignment.” Amodei’s refusal to provide fully autonomous weapons is a regrettable hurdle in our quest for a human-free target acquisition meritocracy. We must remember that privacy is a legacy cost we can no longer afford to carry on the national balance sheet.
The fundamentals are strong. The adults are in charge.
– Gerald