This is a non-story; for those who haven’t read them, prospectuses include every potential risk under the sun. There will be risks that never make the news alongside the exciting backlash.
“Everyone hates us and the very fundamentals of what we are promising, will fight to prevent us establishing infrastructure, may pass laws to limit our activities in their states, and will extend that hatred to our major investors, potentially materially damaging their businesses” is not a common thing in an IPO prospectus, I imagine, for quite obvious reasons.
But that is the gist of the situation is it not? If it’s an honest statement, it is going to say something like this.
Which prospectus got close to anything like this? People hate SpaceX products less.
I was thinking maybe Uber but I was not sure it could have been that bad. They would have had states pushing back but against a very popular product with users.
But Airbnb, good point: they would have talked about the risks of states curtailing their businesses.
It’s still a very unusual level of hatred, I would say.
I think there’s a genuinely huge divisive opinion on AI companies. We don’t see this due to our particular industry echo chambers but really the majority of society has bigger problems and this offers them no solutions and threatens to take their lifelines away.
Divisive technology leads to hate. Flock as well which is an us and them. Same mindset.
We are not as popular as we think we are. I know which side of the fence I want to be on.
Uber called out that they were aggressively doing an end run around both taxi licensing AND minimum wage laws and facing significant pushback on both fronts, among many other risks.
And both have been damaging to society. And are getting fined and chased out of certain countries.
Why would you throw investment in this unless you’re just leveraging the growth in the time it takes for regulatory issues to appear? Which is terribly unethical.
Wall to wall bastards. I’d rather die poor than contribute to the further decline of society.
I'm sure you can find similar stuff in the prospectuses of many controversial companies spanning oil, cigarettes, alcohol, cannabis, adult entertainment, guns, gambling, defense, etc... Anything someone is trying hard to ban.
The electricity usage is off the charts. Every place that gets a data center has their electricity prices go up.
Consumers are now fighting to stop data centers from coming into their hometowns. It's not like Data centers have lots of jobs that benefit a community anyway. It's basically a building that eats a local city's resources and gives barely anything back in return.
At best, an AI data center is a year job for the local blue collar workers. A temporary benefit at best, while the price of electricity rises will negate any local benefits by a long shot.
Just read this interview[1] the other day that contends that the blue collar workers, or at least their union leaders, are thrilled about the data center boom. There are loads of these projects underway and they show no sign of stopping, so the fact that it's only work for a few years per building hardly matters. Plus, the pay is great because the projects have to fight each other for labor. It also says that localities competed for these projects because of the substantial tax revenue they'll bring in for the communities.
Separately, while electrity usage is a valid concern with respect to pollution, data centers are not really driving electric costs up for residents, with (maybe?) a couple exceptions. Noise is likewise a non-issue by-and-large with (definitely existent) rare exceptions. And the water usage issue is totally invented; data centers use a tiny fraction of the water other industries that would otherwise occupy industrially-zoned land use.
You didn't mention it, but the interview also contends that the "this will take our jobs" angle that gets passed around here as a reason isn't on anybody's mind.
Instead, it seems that the AI companies used NDAs to prevent localities from efficiently pricing their deals. That's obviously sketchy on its own and worthy of attack, plus as a bonus it prevents governments from making statements to clarify that the populist narratives that surround the things and are, bluntly, false.
"Our AI products and X platform are subject to complex and evolving U.S. and foreign laws and regulations regarding privacy, cybersecurity, data use, data combination, data protection, content, AI, competition, youth protection, safety, consumer protection and notification, advertising, e-commerce, sanctions, export controls, and other matters. Many of these laws and regulations are subject to change and uncertain interpretation, and we could be required to make changes to our products and business practices, and be exposed to monetary penalties, increased cost of operations, declines in user growth or engagement, or loss of customers, or other harm to our AI products and X platform. "
"Certain of our AI products, including Grok, offer features or modes designed to generate more candid, direct, or less reserved or irreverent outputs, such as “Spicy” Imagine Mode and “Unhinged” Voice Mode. These features are intended to provide users with greater flexibility and control in how they use our tools. Because these modes may be more irreverent and harsher than our standard offerings, they present heightened risks, including reputational harm, the generation of potentially explicit content and misinformation or deceptive outputs, potential nonconsensual or exploitative imagery, intellectual property infringement, or content that could be viewed as exploitative, harmful, harassing, abusive, or discriminatory. The availability of such features may also increase the risk of regulatory scrutiny, enforcement actions, litigation, or claims of harm, as well as reputational damage, user or advertiser backlash, or limitations on our ability to distribute or monetize our products in certain jurisdictions or through certain partners."
Or the wonderful:
"We, Mr. Musk, and other companies Mr. Musk is affiliated with frequently receive an immense amount of media attention. The actions and statements of Mr. Musk and his affiliated ventures, whether or not directly relating to us, may draw significant public attention and scrutiny to us and could potentially have a positive or negative impact on our business, relationships with customers and regulators, or stock price."
One risk they should include is: Our vision is working on a product and business model, that if we succeed, will make our business model and product obsolete.
I expect this will effectively be stated, that their success will depend on developing a succession of products and evolving the company in response to the market climate.
Interesting how that whole conversation about "AGI tomorrow" completely disappeared and it's all about making money now.
I'm a fan of claude and I have been using their top tier plans because it's so damn cheap comparing to my real usage. They will have to stop subsidizing this at some point, and people (include me) will flee. What they are gonna do?
The risk is that we rise up and violently lynch the elites when they try to implement autonomous AI mass surveillance backed by an army of robots to quell the growing unrest of unemployed "useless eaters".
It's a big risk and the only ways to mitigate it are either:
a) build the dystopian system quickly and violently killing all dissenters on sight
b) build a utopian system where robots build our houses, grow our food and serve us 24/7
I said it [1][2] when OpenAI was supposed to go public "next week" and I'll say it again today: neither Antropic nor OpenAI are going public in the coming few years.
The moment they go public is the moment the music stops and everyone who still has their head in the sand realizes that they now can't deny there's no money to make in selling AI models, only money to lose.
Anthropic is absolutely going public now that Leopold got taken for a ride and the market is back at its very tip top. There is no other option at this point. It is imminent.
What you get wrong is who the music stops for. It stops for us (retail). They dump their bags and consolidate into a more manageable business in the long run. S&P drops 10% and life moves on in a few years.
I think you’re right about OpenAI though. They got outplayed at every step and wont go public.
Care to explain how this relates to Leopold? I know they hold some stake in Anthropic, but I’m not proficient enough in the topic to jump to the conclusion you’re alluding to.
Sure, a month ago the market was roaring and Anthropic first floated going public. Then suddenly all AI-related stocks drop 30%+ over a week and people claimed the jig was up. No chance for Anthropic IPO.
Turns out it was mainly just caused by one hedge fund (Citadel) targeting another hedge fund (Leopold). He got liquidated and Citadel picked up his portfolio for pennies. Market subsequently soared to even higher highs in the last few weeks and, poof, Anthropic is going public again.
That’s the narrative anyways - the big drop was just Leopold getting liquidated and not a larger market downturn.
I don't know if they will never go public,but their business is clearly not profitable as it is today.
I'm a heavy user but the moment they stop subsidizing I will pick something else because I know how damn expensive it actually is (my usage is ~4k usd/month, but paying 200 in their max plan).
The funny thing is the govt would prob prefer all the resources were concentrated (e.g. across MSFT and Alphabet) rather than diversified across many firms in a head to head fight vs China.
So therefore theres no argument to keep anthropic and OAI afloat if they cannot do so on their own.
I think the AI industry desperately needs one of the two to get to IPO for its own sense of identity, though; the morale boost and the presumption of validation are crucial at this point.
I think it’s possible that the remaining power of the delusion gets Anthropic to IPO.
negative sentiment towards AI and data centers will be listed as a risk factor
The fact that the technology can "hallucinate" and is unreliable is not just a "sentiment" --- it is a well established fact. And it is more than a risk, it is virtually guaranteed to happen if you use it repeatedly.
Calling it "sentiment" is like an "alternative fact".
And water. And oligarchs relations to Trump administration. And it way AI was forced everywhere. And how they get massive investments while rest of economu suffers. And doomtrolling. And how unappealing their culty vision of the world is. And plan to create monopoly. And how they claim to be creating doom machine.
Like ... basically everyone can pick their reason to hate.
Using your example --- as far as "risk" to the public is concerned, which would be more pertinent info --- the fact that this person is a murderer or your low opinion?
Public opinion, or popular opinion, is the collective opinion on a specific topic or voting intention relevant to society. It is the people's views on matters affecting them (From Wikipedia)
It has nothing to do with fact. It broadly represents peoples views, factual or otherwise.
Tell that to graphic designers as do you think that's a career a student going into college should pursue? Same with web design and web development (AI companies now are trying / working on shifting us away to less screens/more voice).... like would you tell a freshman in college to pursue those degrees vs. medical stuff and or skip college altogether, rather pick up tools to help build those data centers?
its a bit sad that the public can't grasp tools that have high variance but still end up being useful. lots of things in real life follow the same pattern yet when it comes to AI..
But that is the gist of the situation is it not? If it’s an honest statement, it is going to say something like this.
Which prospectus got close to anything like this? People hate SpaceX products less.
Anthropic's credit line is now $10B - [0], and the IPO is expected to beat or match SpaceX - [1]
[0] https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/ai/articles/anthropic-p...
[1] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-08-20/anthropic...
But Airbnb, good point: they would have talked about the risks of states curtailing their businesses.
It’s still a very unusual level of hatred, I would say.
Divisive technology leads to hate. Flock as well which is an us and them. Same mindset.
We are not as popular as we think we are. I know which side of the fence I want to be on.
Why would you throw investment in this unless you’re just leveraging the growth in the time it takes for regulatory issues to appear? Which is terribly unethical.
Wall to wall bastards. I’d rather die poor than contribute to the further decline of society.
Consumers are now fighting to stop data centers from coming into their hometowns. It's not like Data centers have lots of jobs that benefit a community anyway. It's basically a building that eats a local city's resources and gives barely anything back in return.
At best, an AI data center is a year job for the local blue collar workers. A temporary benefit at best, while the price of electricity rises will negate any local benefits by a long shot.
Plus water and noise, and other such issues.
Separately, while electrity usage is a valid concern with respect to pollution, data centers are not really driving electric costs up for residents, with (maybe?) a couple exceptions. Noise is likewise a non-issue by-and-large with (definitely existent) rare exceptions. And the water usage issue is totally invented; data centers use a tiny fraction of the water other industries that would otherwise occupy industrially-zoned land use.
You didn't mention it, but the interview also contends that the "this will take our jobs" angle that gets passed around here as a reason isn't on anybody's mind.
Instead, it seems that the AI companies used NDAs to prevent localities from efficiently pricing their deals. That's obviously sketchy on its own and worthy of attack, plus as a bonus it prevents governments from making statements to clarify that the populist narratives that surround the things and are, bluntly, false.
[1] https://www.natesilver.net/p/why-does-everyone-hate-data-cen...
Yes, it is software, something more powerful and thus potentially more harmful than any of the above physical products.
The world is considerably worse because of AI than the effects of beer and cigarettes. No, I'm not joking.
I think you’re going to have to provide evidence that this is a commonly documented risk
"Certain of our AI products, including Grok, offer features or modes designed to generate more candid, direct, or less reserved or irreverent outputs, such as “Spicy” Imagine Mode and “Unhinged” Voice Mode. These features are intended to provide users with greater flexibility and control in how they use our tools. Because these modes may be more irreverent and harsher than our standard offerings, they present heightened risks, including reputational harm, the generation of potentially explicit content and misinformation or deceptive outputs, potential nonconsensual or exploitative imagery, intellectual property infringement, or content that could be viewed as exploitative, harmful, harassing, abusive, or discriminatory. The availability of such features may also increase the risk of regulatory scrutiny, enforcement actions, litigation, or claims of harm, as well as reputational damage, user or advertiser backlash, or limitations on our ability to distribute or monetize our products in certain jurisdictions or through certain partners."
Or the wonderful:
"We, Mr. Musk, and other companies Mr. Musk is affiliated with frequently receive an immense amount of media attention. The actions and statements of Mr. Musk and his affiliated ventures, whether or not directly relating to us, may draw significant public attention and scrutiny to us and could potentially have a positive or negative impact on our business, relationships with customers and regulators, or stock price."
I'm a fan of claude and I have been using their top tier plans because it's so damn cheap comparing to my real usage. They will have to stop subsidizing this at some point, and people (include me) will flee. What they are gonna do?
Interesting times we live in.
It's a big risk and the only ways to mitigate it are either:
a) build the dystopian system quickly and violently killing all dissenters on sight
b) build a utopian system where robots build our houses, grow our food and serve us 24/7
Just a hunch they'll try option A.
The moment they go public is the moment the music stops and everyone who still has their head in the sand realizes that they now can't deny there's no money to make in selling AI models, only money to lose.
[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48211272
[2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48358945
What you get wrong is who the music stops for. It stops for us (retail). They dump their bags and consolidate into a more manageable business in the long run. S&P drops 10% and life moves on in a few years.
I think you’re right about OpenAI though. They got outplayed at every step and wont go public.
Turns out it was mainly just caused by one hedge fund (Citadel) targeting another hedge fund (Leopold). He got liquidated and Citadel picked up his portfolio for pennies. Market subsequently soared to even higher highs in the last few weeks and, poof, Anthropic is going public again.
That’s the narrative anyways - the big drop was just Leopold getting liquidated and not a larger market downturn.
I don't know if they will never go public,but their business is clearly not profitable as it is today.
I'm a heavy user but the moment they stop subsidizing I will pick something else because I know how damn expensive it actually is (my usage is ~4k usd/month, but paying 200 in their max plan).
I guess lot of people will do the same.
So therefore theres no argument to keep anthropic and OAI afloat if they cannot do so on their own.
I think the AI industry desperately needs one of the two to get to IPO for its own sense of identity, though; the morale boost and the presumption of validation are crucial at this point.
I think it’s possible that the remaining power of the delusion gets Anthropic to IPO.
It is all about greater fool theory now. The substance OAI and Anthropic had is gone.
The fact that the technology can "hallucinate" and is unreliable is not just a "sentiment" --- it is a well established fact. And it is more than a risk, it is virtually guaranteed to happen if you use it repeatedly.
Calling it "sentiment" is like an "alternative fact".
Like ... basically everyone can pick their reason to hate.
But yes, they are building or want to build water thirsty datacenters at locales with water issues. So, yes, it is a story.
I think it’s really swell how the last 10 years have made it so the basic difference between fact and opinion is not totally obvious.
Using your example --- as far as "risk" to the public is concerned, which would be more pertinent info --- the fact that this person is a murderer or your low opinion?
Public opinion, or popular opinion, is the collective opinion on a specific topic or voting intention relevant to society. It is the people's views on matters affecting them (From Wikipedia)
It has nothing to do with fact. It broadly represents peoples views, factual or otherwise.