Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt called OpenAI and Anthropic modern colonial trading companies. His assessment is given in the Foreign Affairs article prepared by historian Niall Ferguson, researcher Lisa Klaassen and Schmidt.
The authors present the United States and China as empires of artificial intelligence, and the other countries as dependent territories. In their assessment, the outcome of the competition will be determined not only by new developments but by the ability to finance large-scale projects: American corporations plan to spend more than 600 billion dollars in 2026 year.
The synopsis also mentions factors that could slow both sides: rising debt, protests against data centers, and a potential chip-supply crisis due to the Taiwan situation. The source is presented as an independent recap by The Decoder; available data contain only metadata and synopsis, not the full original publication.
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Why it matters
A likely consequence of this logic is increased attention to funding, energy supply, public support for data centers, and supply-chain resilience, not only model quality. The closest observable signal will be whether American corporations maintain their stated spending plans and how protests around data centers evolve. A significant uncertainty arises from the fact that only The Decoder synopsis is available without the full original text and additional confirmation.