By Rafael Behr
Publication Date: 2025-12-23 06:00:00
IIf AI hasn’t changed your life in 2025, it will next year. This is one of the few forecasts that can be made with confidence in unpredictable times. This is not an invitation to believe the hype about what technology can do today or what it could one day achieve. The hype doesn’t need your credibility. Silicon Valley’s finances are so bloated that they are distorting the global economy and fueling geopolitical rivalries, shaping your world regardless of whether the most fanciful claims about AI capability ever come true.
ChatGPT launched just over three years ago and has become the fastest-growing consumer app in history. It now has around 800 million weekly users. The parent company OpenAI is worth around $500 billion. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has negotiated a complex and, to some, suspiciously opaque network of deals with other industry players to build the infrastructure needed for America’s AI-powered future. The value of these commitments is approximately $1.5 trillion. This isn’t real money, but please…
