IMPORTANT HISTORY LESSON Today: "If you ban data centers in the US, we'll lose to China" 1800s: "If you ban slavery in the UK, we'll lose to France" UK: *uses Royal Navy and diplomatic pressure to enforce the ban internationally* Slavery: *gone* Slavers initially ignored the ban, so how did they pull it off? For decades, at great expense, they ordered the Royal Navy to patrol the oceans and seize slave ships. They didn’t just ban slavery, they even used the government’s money to buy the slaves and free them. This cost Britain a fortune, but they did it anyway. They decided slavery was bad, and largely stopped it. At the time of the US civil war, roughly 25% of all the wealth of the south was slaves - there was a LOT of money at stake! Yet we banned slavery anyway. If humanity decides it wants to, it is absolutely capable of pausing/stopping AGI. Right now the appetite isn't there, because few people are aware of the risks. That will change. But if we don’t do it soon, it’ll be impossible later, because we will be SO dependent on AI. Imagine trying to turn off the internet! AGI is being built by just a few companies in a few countries. One company makes the chips (TSMC), one company designs the chips (NVIDIA), one company makes the lithography equipment (ASML), etc. All chokepoints. "But some countries could defect!" If the US and China coordinated, they could stop these countries using diplomatic, economic, and military pressure. We do this ALL THE TIME when countries do things the US doesn't like. Maybe development wouldn’t stop 100%, but it could slow down 95%. ...