Karen Hao, the bestselling author of “Empire of AI,” has witnessed OpenAI’s transformation from a modest nonprofit with ambitious ideals into a $90 billion tech giant racing toward artificial general intelligence. Having first profiled the company in 2020, Hao reflects on how its original mission—to build AI for humanity’s benefit—was gradually eclipsed by the dominant ethos of Silicon Valley: move fast, break things, and let scale define success. In a recent appearance on TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, Hao dissected the trajectory of the AI boom, arguing that today’s leading AI companies are mirroring the patterns of historical empires. These modern tech titans, she says, are built on the foundation of resource hoarding—data, compute power, and talent—alongside exploitative labor practices that sustain their growth. Behind the scenes, the environmental cost of training massive models is mounting, and the human toll on data labelers and engineers is often overlooked. Hao warns that this model, while profitable in the short term, carries significant long-term risks. The concentration of power in a handful of companies, fueled by massive investments and aggressive expansion, threatens to undermine democratic oversight, stifle competition, and deepen inequality. She emphasizes that the current path isn’t inevitable and that there’s a pressing need to rethink how AI is developed and governed. For investors and founders, Hao’s message is clear: the unchecked pursuit of scale and dominance may lead to regulatory backlash, public distrust, and systemic fragility. But it also opens space for alternative models—ones that prioritize transparency, sustainability, and equitable access. The conversation, which touched on everything from the ethics of AI labor to the geopolitical implications of AI supremacy, underscores a growing reckoning: as AI reshapes the world, the choices made today will determine whether it becomes a force for shared progress or a tool of entrenched power.