The Emergence of a Monopoly in AI Development: A Valid Concern?

posted  22 Nov 2023
Photo - The Emergence of a Monopoly in AI Development: A Valid Concern?
Leaders of various technology companies are raising alarms over the concentration of artificial intelligence technology in the grasp of a select few entities. Their concern is that such a centralization bestows enormous control over cutting-edge technologies on these companies, enabling them to set the industry's rules.

"Right now, there are only a handful of companies with the resources needed to create these large-scale AI models and deploy them at scale," stated Meredith Whittaker, president of the Signal.

Frank McCourt, the head of Project Liberty, echoes these sentiments. He points out that the AI development sphere is overwhelmingly dominated by just five corporations, which happen to reap all the sector's benefits.

"Sure, people will come and build small things on those big platforms. But it’s the big underlying platforms that control this data that will be the winners," adds Frank McCourt.

However, some optimism persists despite these concerns. Some developers are championing the idea of jointly engineering open-source AI models, a move that might catalyze the advent of rival applications.