On Tuesday, America voted to give Democrats control over both houses of Congress, punishing Republicans for the abandoned promises of the second Trump administration and raising hopes that a decade of MAGA misery might be coming to an end.
uncertain
decade → vote → end
In exit polls, voters were fed up with high prices for gas and groceries, the chaotic conflict with Iran, and the endemic corruption of the Trump administration, which they seemed to have noticed in large numbers for the first time.
asserted
they → feed → time
But another powerful thread of discontent ran through the voting on Tuesday, and it lay in the administration’s full-throated endorsement of Big Tech oligarchy and the AI accelerationism it has pushed for in the White House.
asserted
it → run → House
In Texas, Gina Hinojosa unseated Gov. Greg Abbott after campaigning on an immediate moratorium on new data centers.
asserted
Hinojosa → unseat → centers
In Ohio, Sherrod Brown beat Sen. Jon Husted, whom he called “the face of data centers” after Husted recruited and gave tax breaks to the facilities during his time as lieutenant governor.
asserted
Husted → beat → governor
Voters approved bans or restrictions on data centers in at least 38 jurisdictions.
asserted
Voters → approve → jurisdictions
The efforts of pro-AI super PACs mostly went nowhere, as did those of Elon Musk, who spent nearly half a billion dollars this cycle and got almost nothing in return.
asserted
who → go → return
The incoming majority in Congress is already promising to take a stronger hand in regulating tech companies.
asserted
majority → promise → companies
Rep. Greg Casar, who chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus, called the results an "early tremor of a much bigger AI earthquake."
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who → chair → earthquake
Sen. Ed Markey joked that Democrats would be issuing so many subpoenas they'd need new forests.
asserted
they → joke → forests
At Transformer, Shakeel Hashim predicted that a bill regulating frontier models will pass in the first months of 2027, and that President Trump might even sign it.
uncertain
Trump → predict → it
It’s clear that Democrats won a strong mandate against something: data centers and their various externalities, billionaires buying elections, and the AI industry’s ongoing promise to take your job and also maybe kill you.
asserted
Democrats → ’ → you
But properly regulating AI isn’t as simple as banning data centers — which the labs will simply move to other states, countries, or even into space.
asserted
labs → regulate → space
It may not even be as simple as pausing frontier AI development — even if the United States could coordinate a global pause, we would still be left with the question of how technology development could safely continue.
uncertain
development → pause → question
The uncertainty over what to do next feels familiar.
asserted
uncertainty → feel → what
It’s an uncertainty that plagued the entire debate over what to do about social media in the aftermath of the 2016 US presidential election — a debate that never resulted in any meaningful regulation from Congress.
asserted
that → ’ → Congress
Social media is now being regulated primarily by judges and juries.
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media → regulate → judges
AI regulation can’t afford to take the same path.
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regulation → afford → path
(TikTok and Instagram might scramble your brain, or the brain of someone you love, but there was never any risk that they might automate your job or invent a novel bioweapon.)
uncertain
they → scramble → bioweapon
And two, the technology is developing much faster: most industry leaders believe that hugely powerful AI systems may arrive within the next two years.
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systems → develop → years
Congress will not have a decade to debate which approach to regulation is the right one.
asserted
approach → have → regulation
And in particular, it does not have a decade for a debate that goes nowhere.
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that → have → debate
Beginning in 2018, Congress spent roughly four years being performatively furious at social media companies.
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Congress → begin → companies
Mark Zuckerberg was dragged in to testify about Cambridge Analytica and a host of other issues.
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Zuckerberg → drag → issues
Frances Haugen brought tens of thousands of pages of internal Meta documents with her to Capitol Hill.
asserted
Haugen → bring → Hill
Antitrust subcommittees produced a 450-page report and a package of bills aimed at dismantling the oligarchy.
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subcommittees → produce → oligarchy
All America got in return was a ban on TikTok that, in the end, no one bothered to enforce.
asserted
one → get → end
The country still has no comprehensive privacy law, no Section 230 reform, and no new antitrust legislation.
asserted
country → have → law
The Kids Online Safety Act, first introduced four years ago, appears stuck in a kind of perpetual limbo.
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Act → introduce → limbo
It took juries in Los Angeles and New Mexico accepting the argument that addictive product design can cause harm to get around Section 230 and punish the platforms for their recklessness.
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design → take → recklessness
State attorneys general got a settlement from Meta worth roughly $17 billion, plus some of the time limits and notification curfews for teens that Congress never managed to pass.
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Congress → get → that
But America got nowhere, I think, because of a handful of mistakes that it may be on the verge of making again when it comes to AI.
uncertain
it → get → AI
With that in mind, then, here are three things to watch out for as the new Congress is seated in January.
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Congress → watch → January
Maybe the biggest problem with the movement to “make social media safer” was that no one could agree on what “safe” meant.
uncertain
safe → make → what
Is social media “safe” if it can’t send push notifications?
asserted
it → send → notifications
If it is scrubbed of all bullying, harassment, hate speech, violence, and self-harm?
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it → scrub → bullying
Should platforms be able to rent your personal data to advertisers, or show you ads for scams without much penalty?
asserted
platforms → rent → penalty
What obligations should they have to label and remove propaganda?
asserted
they → have → propaganda
How far should a sitting president be able to go in overturning the results of an election and keep his account?
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president → sit → account
Each of these questions demands a separate answer.
asserted
Each → demand → answer
…and 96 more, not listed.
The Aporia
