Crypto: Breaking Openai Is Too Big To Fail, And That's The Point
AI’s foundational role in knowledge work means monopolies can’t be broken like social media or browsers. Alternatives to centralized AI systems must be built now.
During November 2025, OpenAI executives floated the idea of a government partnership that sounded remarkably similar to a bailout. They walked it back after significant blowback. The trial balloon marked what everyone already knew but didn't want to say out loud: AI's biggest companies are already "too big to fail."
In 2024, the US government proved the point. After a multiyear Google antitrust trial, the US government secured a liability ruling finding the company maintained an illegal monopoly, but remedies have yet to be finalized, highlighting how slow and uncertain antitrust enforcement can be.
No Chrome divestiture. No ad empire breakup. A company that spent 20 years cementing its monopoly walked away with a slap on the wrist.
The same thing is happening with AI now. This time, the technology is too fundamental to the economy to fix later.
A new technology emerges. Multiple competitors race for dominance. Network effects and capital advantages create a clear winner. Everyone piles on because it's rational. The best talent works there, the most capital flows there and the technology advances fastest there.
Ten years later, the horror sets in and it's too late. Facebook weaponized attention and polarized democracies. Google created a surveillance advertising empire with control over web standards across billions of devices.
By the time the problem was recognized, the switching costs were insurmountable and legal remedies were toothless. AI is currently into its fourth year of this pattern. ChatGPT launched in November 2022. The "everyone piles on the winner" phase is already underway.
Social media monopolies were bad. They weaponized elections, destroyed mental health and created echo chambers. At least you could delete Facebook.
Browser monopolies were worse. Chrome's dominance gave Google control over web standards, but at least you could switch to Firefox or Brave; the web itself remained decentralized. AI infrastructure is neither.
Source: CoinTelegraph
