There Are No Oligarchs
Just technologists with a passion for change and of course self-interest
We should all be amazed and happy that highly competitive technology leaders sat on the same stage at Trump’s inaugauration. There has probably never been one like it. These are the worlds most valuable companies, cominmg together, to celebrate innovation and seeking to influence a US Government to help. And so far it seems to be working. Leaving aside all of the objectionable elements of Trump, he seriously seems to be a champion of growth and innovation across AI, Crypto, Space and much besides. This is not an oligarchy but a business mission with the right people in the room.
There’s no question that artificial intelligence has taken center stage this week, though. The inauguration ran it a close second.
Mark Zuckerberg underscores Meta’s colossal spending plans in a TechCrunch piece, stating, “We’re committing more than ever to our AI infrastructure—1.3 million GPUs is just the beginning.”
According to a Reuters report, he also emphasized, “We expect to invest up to $65 billion in capital expenditure this year to power our AI goals.”
This commitment echoes across other players in the industry. OpenAI’s newly introduced “Operator” service (via TechJuice) is described as an “effortless task-handling” solution that could enable vast improvements in productivity for everyone from solo entrepreneurs to large corporations. Meanwhile, the Financial Times reveals a complex dance around how to price Microsoft’s stake in OpenAI: “Valuations in the AI sector are moving so quickly that today’s number can be outdated tomorrow,” one investor said, highlighting the current sense of urgency—and opportunity.
The AI boom has an obvious political dimension. In the New York Times coverage of Elon Musk’s doubts about Trump’s $100 billion Stargate A.I. announcement, Musk is quoted as saying, “Big numbers are good headlines, but real AI leadership requires sustainable development and clear goals.”
In doing so he was sending a silent ‘FU’ message to Sam Altman who seems to be the biggest beneficiary of Stargate - the $500 billion data centre announced by Trump, Altman, Masayoshi San and Microsoft among others.
The fact that Musk, Zuckerberg and Altman are fighting over what the future looks like. And that Musk would make fun of a $500 billion project announced by Trump, are signs that the so called Oligarchy is actually not.
They are businessmen seeking favor in Trump, all with their own goals, often conflicting.
As news, compared to the investments in AI with this claim of Oligarchy makes the latter the sideshow. And it is less than credible. The entire word has been invoked by Jow Biden and picked up by ideologues who are not thinking things through. Why would you not want the top innovation companies in DC? And why would you not want them to make a difference (or in the words of the ideologues, have power)?
The most significant stories of the week are about the real breakthroughs being made in AI. We saw DeepSeek, a Chinese AI model, jump to the front of AI attention. It used reinforcement learning to train a model very cheaply that can compete with the best models developed so far. Then it released it to open source.
In the same week OpenAI announced ‘Operator’ an AI agent approach that can use a browser to perform many manual tasks by being prompted.
Rohit Krishnan’s essay - What would a world with AGI look like? - looks at the implications of AGI for society, as does this week’s post of the week by Sam Altman.
There is going to be progress. It will have implications. We need to talk about that. This would be a good summary of Altman’s post.
Trump and David Sacks are also opening up the US to crypto. A Davos headline from Trustnodes reads, “Bitcoin Will Surpass Gold Reserves Says Brian Armstrong.” Whether or not such predictions prove correct, it’s emblematic of a broader optimism about how decentralized finance might grow. Andreessen Horowitz, as covered by Coingape, is still betting big on U.S. crypto markets, with one partner remarking, “We see relentless innovation in American crypto startups, even amid regulation uncertainty.”
Venture Capital: Shifting Gears, Finding Growth
Venture capital dynamics are also in flux. Larger seed rounds are not only surviving this market climate but sometimes thriving, as noted by Crunchbase: “Seed Rounds Got Larger Through The Downturn. Why Is That?” The answer lies in the faith investors place in disruptive technologies—particularly AI and robotics. Even though some sectors like food and cannabis are seeing funding drop, “robotics and AI remain bright spots for those with a stomach for risk and a vision for the future,” another Crunchbase article suggests.
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At the same time, Andreessen Horowitz is pulling back from UK crypto projects, per the Financial Times, reflecting how rapidly shifting regulatory environments can create uneven global investment maps. But even this is reason for guarded optimism: as certain markets mature, capital flows to the places best equipped to nurture the next wave of breakthroughs.
Pro-Innovation Outlook
Rather than dwell on a mythological emerging Oligarchy, or the potential pitfalls of regulatory tussles, competitive pressures, or occasional missteps—I have an optimism-first approach.
If even a fraction of the advanced AI capabilities, decentralized finance projects, and next-generation robotics now being funded reach widespread adoption, the world will look very different. As Jowyang’s Beehiiv newsletter frames it, “We’re on the cusp of AI agents revolutionizing knowledge work, personal productivity, and even creative pursuits.”
Innovation at scale is rarely a smooth ride, but the collective energy is staggering—and encouraging. Each step forward, from new GPU deployments at Meta to specialized AI agents managing everyday tasks, expands what humans can achieve. The winners, in a grand sense, are all of us, as tools become more powerful, customization becomes more accessible, and entire new industries take shape.
Yes, there will be challenges—data privacy, algorithmic fairness, and the ethics of automated decision-making among them. But these challenges also create fertile ground for the next wave of problem-solvers. A robust community of researchers, entrepreneurs, and policymakers, all engaged in harnessing AI for social good, can steer us toward solutions that are both profitable and beneficial.
From massive data-center investments to the explosion of specialized AI startups, the story of this week’s headlines is one of rapid transformation. Venture capital is adapting, tech giants are spending, and brand-new AI agent services promise to upend what we thought was possible. Rather than fear these changes, we can channel them into positive momentum—building a future that is richer, more efficient, and surprisingly more human as technologies take on rote tasks and free us for deeper work and creativity.
As the author of one of this week’s AI articles put it, “Innovation isn’t a luxury—it’s the fuel that drives human progress forward.” Despite the hype, there’s genuine excitement here grounded in real-world results. And that, in itself, should give us reason to be optimistic about what comes next.
Editorial: There Are No Oligarchs
Essays of the Week
Interview of the Week
Startup of the Week
Post of the Week
CEO at EuroTechInnovation, Thundermountain Group, StartupSW
1 个月If you leave out the political vision of some Silicon Valley people, you might come to the conclusion there are no Oligarchs. I fear you missed seeing the dangerous mixture of business power and personal visions ruling this world!