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The AI industry is pouring millions into US elections

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Re: The AI industry is pouring millions into US elections

#11
post #8
post #2

how long before “AI agents have voting rights too” becomes real

Never? Even the whole "corporations are people too" meme where this sentiment presumably originated from is often misunderstood. It doesn't mean corporations have the same rights as people, it just means they can conduct transactions and can sue/be used. It doesn't mean they can vote.

It does in one town in Delaware, at least: https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/delaware-court-upho...

Re: The AI industry is pouring millions into US elections

#14
post #8
post #2

how long before “AI agents have voting rights too” becomes real

Never? Even the whole "corporations are people too" meme where this sentiment presumably originated from is often misunderstood. It doesn't mean corporations have the same rights as people, it just means they can conduct transactions and can sue/be used. It doesn't mean they can vote.

It also allows them to be sued. I suppose we could have other mechanisms to sue companies but this is what we’ve come up with.

Re: The AI industry is pouring millions into US elections

#15
post #8
post #2

how long before “AI agents have voting rights too” becomes real

Never? Even the whole "corporations are people too" meme where this sentiment presumably originated from is often misunderstood. It doesn't mean corporations have the same rights as people, it just means they can conduct transactions and can sue/be used. It doesn't mean they can vote.

I thought that the "corporations are people" meme was the actual rationale for why corpos "should" be allowed to spend money on elections: spending money for political purposes is free speech, and people have the right to free speech, and corpos are people, so corpos have the right to spend money for political purposes.

Re: The AI industry is pouring millions into US elections

#16

Tech Influence Watch site: https://influence.citationneeded.news/ ( https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48632474 ) (Blog post: https://www.citationneeded.news/tech-influence-watch/ )

Very nice "Contributions by entity" visualization, thanks

Re: The AI industry is pouring millions into US elections

#17
post #14
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Never? Even the whole "corporations are people too" meme where this sentiment presumably originated from is often misunderstood. It doesn't mean corporations have the same rights as people, it just means they can conduct transactions and can sue/be used. It doesn't mean they can vote.

It also allows them to be sued. I suppose we could have other mechanisms to sue companies but this is what we’ve come up with.

"Corporate Personhood" allows the corporate entity to be a responsibility sink for the owners. They alternative is that people can sue the owners/officers directly for the "actions" of the corporation.

Re: The AI industry is pouring millions into US elections

#19
Probably a sign that it is past time to tightly regulate all AI-aligned companies and their products to set up guard rails to prevent this level of corruption. I am a person who lives in a state where it is totally legal for lobbyists to walk the floor of the state legislature handing out envelopes of cash to any representative who will line up behind their proposed legislation. Bribery buys state laws here and it buys pretty much anything else that those with deep pockets desire.

One day people in this state will wake up and burn it all down by electing representatives who serve the people, not the corporate entities that desire a low drag place to do business. There are active anti-AI and data center groups now in the state. Once they get enough traction this bullshit will end.

Anyone at any of these AI companies that attempts to influence elections should be held accountable and should suffer the harshest consequences including confiscation of all personal assets. Multi-generational enforced poverty should be their reward.

Just my two cents.

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