Silicon Empires

Since the emergence of ChatGPT, generative AI has been heralded as a technology poised to revolutionize our world. But beyond the hype and hyperbole, who truly wields power over this transformative technology? In Silicon Empires, Nick Srnicek explores the geopolitical economy of artificial intelligence, revealing how a handful of powerful corporations and states are engaged in a monumental struggle to control its future. Srnicek moves beyond the headlines to lay bare the elaborate strategies that these silicon empires - from tech giants to great powers - are deploying to capture the immense value of AI. This incisive analysis uncovers the deep-seated tensions between corporate ambitions and national interests, and the profound consequences of this new era of technological competition. As the race for AI supremacy accelerates, Srnicek compellingly demonstrates that the decisions being made in the boardrooms of Silicon Valley and the halls of government will shape the distribution of wealth and power on a global scale for decades to come. Now available as an audiobook.

Nick Srnicek is Senior Lecturer in Digital Economy at King's College London, and the author of Platform Capitalism.

1 / Where is the Value of Generative AI?
Beyond ChatGPT
The Generative AI Stack
Tensions and Trajectories
Conclusion
2 / Strategies of Capture
Strategies of Capture
Amazon and the Infrastructure Strategy
OpenAI and the Frontier Strategy
Google and the Conglomerate Strategy
Meta and the Open Strategy
Conclusion
3 / An Interregnum
The Silicon Valley Consensus
Technodevelopmentalism
Consensus Undone
The Tech-Industrial Complex
The Disorderly Expansion of Capital
Conclusion
4 / The Future of Silicon Empires
America's Innovation Strategy
China's Diffusion Strategy
Silicon Empires
Conclusion