The CEO of American high tech firm Palantir thinks the US government should nationalize the artificial intelligence industry. His rationale is that the industry is about to be crippled by lawsuits and that being government controlled would somehow prevent that.

It is true that every day seems to bring another news story about some company’s AI system going rogue. There are serious questions as to the safety of the industry and its ability to self regulate.

Legislation is not enough, he says. The government must step in and take control.

Maybe that is a good idea. After all, government is renowned for making the businesses it runs less efficient. Maybe it would inadvertently slow down the rogue incidents just through sheer incompetence. But can you trust them to screw up? Sometimes government does function as required.

The scary part is, if the AI industry were to be nationalized, who would be in charge? In most countries the politicians don’t have direct control over government corporations. But this is the US.

In the American government these days Donald trump does what he likes, whether he has statutory authority or not. Neither Congress nor the courts seem able to restrain him.

So the question is not whether AI companies in the US should be nationalized or not, but rather, should Donald trump be given that much power?

And the CEO who proposed the idea? A big MAGA supporter. You figure out what is happening here.