On Air Force One last week, US President Donald Trump caught many off guard by throwing his weight behind a proposal that would see the US take equity stakes in AI companies. Ensuring society shares in the gains from the technology is an admirable goal, and seizes on a growing anti-AI backlash in America. But rather than democratising the wealth created by new technologies, the still fuzzy plan to seed an AI wealth fund with voluntary contributions from companies only risks strengthening the power of tech giants — and government administrators.
上周在空军一号(Air Force One)上,美国总统唐纳德•特朗普(Donald Trump)出人意料地力挺一项提议:美国政府入股AI公司。让社会共享这项科技带来的收益是一个值得称道的目标,也顺势回应了美国国内日益高涨的反AI情绪。然而,非但不会让新科技创造的财富民主化,这个仍模糊不清的计划——利用企业的自愿出资设立一个AI财富基金——更可能强化科技巨头及政府管理者的权力。