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Empire of AI: Inside the reckless race for total domination

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An eye-opening account of the tech arms race shaping out planet, from an award-winning journalist and AI insider to the world of Sam Altman and OpenAI

When longtime AI expert and journalist Karen Hao first began covering OpenAI in 2019, she thought they were the good guys. Founded as a nonprofit with safety enshrined as its core mission, it was meant, its leader Sam Altman told us, to act as a check against more purely market forces.

But the core truth of this massively disruptive sector is that it requires an unprecedented amount of proprietary resources: the ‘compute’ power of scarce high-end chips, the sheer volume of data that needs to be amassed at scale, the humans on the ground ‘cleaning it up’ for sweatshop wages throughout the Global South, and a truly alarming spike in the need for energy and water underlying everything. We have entered a new, ominous age of empire with OpenAI setting a breakneck pace, as a small group of the most valuable companies in human history try to chase it down.

In exhilarating prose and with unparalleled access to those closest to Sam Altman, Hao recounts the meteoric rise of OpenAI and shows us the sinister impact that this industry is having on society.


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An <em>anti-racist</em> social enterprise bookstore specialising in BIPOC books.
About Amplify Bookstore

An anti-racist social enterprise bookstore specialising in BIPOC books.

Only about 11% of books published are by BIPOC authors — so unless you specifically seek out books by BIPOC authors, you aren't likely to find very many of them organically. At Amplify, BIPOC authors are highlighted and celebrated. Here, they don't have to fight to be seen, and you don't have to fight to find them.

We hope that in our shop, you can discover a new favourite read, find stories that speak uniquely to you, learn about a culture outside your own (or more about your own histories), and gain a better understanding of the systems that connect us all.

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I’ve discovered so many new-to-me authors and the owners are so generous in their recommendations. Don’t follow the trends, set them! - let Amplify broaden your reading and sharpen your mind.

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If you're looking to expand your book collection to hear voices, perspectives and stories that aren't on blast from mainstream outlets then make your way here as quickly as you can.

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Within are thoughtfully curated books, and I was amazed to see a great diversity of authors. The atmosphere is cosy, calm and relaxed – just the perfect way to start my Sunday!

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I loved how inclusive this space was, there were dyslexia friendly books and a space for books about queer love, a bit of something for everyone.

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