Humanein the Loop
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07

AI power should be balanced in society

Current path

AI power concentrates in a handful of firms with unprecedented influence over markets, public discourse, and policy. Open alternatives are starved of capital and compute. Democratic institutions struggle to hold AI firms accountable.

Better future

AI power is distributed across a healthy ecosystem of commercial, open-source, public, and cooperative actors. Antitrust and competition policy apply. Democratic institutions retain capacity to govern.

Drift across the three domains

Norms

Advancing35 signals
CHT recommends
  • Treat AI market concentration as a competition and democratic concern.
  • Sustain substantive public debate on open vs closed AI beyond either-side capture.
Indicators we track
  • 7.N.aAntitrust and competition discourse applied to AI
  • 7.N.bOpen-source vs closed-source debate
  • 7.N.cConcerns about democratic capture

Laws

Advancing28 signals
CHT recommends
  • Apply antitrust and competition rules to AI markets.
  • Mandate interoperability and data portability.
  • Fund public-option AI and sovereign compute alternatives.
  • Restrict political use of AI (deepfakes, AI-generated campaign speech).
Indicators we track
  • 7.L.aAntitrust action against AI market concentration
  • 7.L.bInteroperability and data portability mandates
  • 7.L.cPublic-option AI and sovereign compute funding
  • 7.L.dRestrictions on political uses of AI

Design

Advancing18 signals
CHT recommends
  • Support responsible open-weights releases of capable models.
  • Invest in decentralized and federated architectures.
  • Provide fair API access to closed models for third-party developers.
Indicators we track
  • 7.D.aOpen-source model releases
  • 7.D.bDecentralized and federated architectures
  • 7.D.cThird-party access to closed models

Recent signals

AdvancingNorms · 7.N.aUSMay 7, 2026

Acting Assistant Attorney General Omeed A. Assefi Delivers Remarks at Engelberg Center on Innovation Law & Policy at NYU School of Law

Acting Assistant Attorney General Omeed A. Assefi delivered remarks at NYU School of Law regarding innovation law and policy, signaling DOJ Antitrust's ongoing focus on competition in emerging tech sectors.

WhyDOJ Antitrust head speech on innovation policy signals continued regulatory scrutiny and discourse on tech/AI market concentration.Antitrust and competition discourse applied to AI
MixedNorms · 7.N.bUSMay 2, 2026

Elon Musk went to court. The judge wasn’t amused.

A judge presided over proceedings in Elon Musk's lawsuit against Sam Altman and OpenAI, a case centering on the company's shift away from its original open-source mission.

WhyCoverage of Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI highlights the ongoing public and legal debate over open-source vs closed-source AI development.Open-source vs closed-source debate
AdvancingMajorNorms · 7.N.bUSMay 1, 2026

Key takeaways from Musk's testimony at OpenAI trial

Elon Musk testified in his ongoing trial against OpenAI, highlighting key debates around the company's transition from an open, non-profit model to a closed, for-profit structure.

WhyMusk's testimony in the OpenAI trial drives mainstream public debate over open vs closed AI development and corporate control.Open-source vs closed-source debate