Silicon Empires

Looking beyond the flurry of rapid changes in artificial intelligence,   Silicon Empires  uncovers the deep economic forces guiding the expansion of AI. Nick Srnicek offers a clear-eyed view of the landscape of generative AI today, while situating it within the broader context of the recent deep learning and cloud computing paradigms. Far from being a disruptive technology, contemporary AI looks set to consolidate the power and position of Big Tech. Yet this power will not come without effort and costs.

Silicon Empires  examines the strategies that Big Tech companies are using to expand their control within the AI value chain and across the economy. The implications of this consolidation of power are wide-ranging, particularly in the light of resurgent geopolitical tensions.

This book is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand the forces that are shaping the future of AI.

1 / Where is the Value of Generative AI?
Beyond ChatGPT
The Generative AI Stack
Tensions and Trajectories
Conclusion
2 / Strategies of Capture
Strategies of Capture
Amazon and the Infrastructure Strategy
OpenAI and the Frontier Strategy
Google and the Conglomerate Strategy
Meta and the Open Strategy
Conclusion
3 / An Interregnum
The Silicon Valley Consensus 
Technodevelopmentalism
Consensus Undone
The Tech-Industrial Complex
The Disorderly Expansion of Capital
Conclusion
4 / The Future of Silicon Empires
America's Innovation Strategy
China's Diffusion Strategy
Silicon Empires
Conclusion