I write about AI and Geopolitics
Bill Friend From a Simple Question to a Cultural Inflection Point The inquiry began with a deceptively simple prompt: “Name one thing that humans can do that can never be replicated by any other means.” At first glance, the question invites a confident declaration. It is structured to elicit a boundary—something definitive, something unique, something absolute. Most … Read more
A single industrial machine — weighing roughly 180 tons and assembled from over 100,000 precision components — may shape the trajectory of global artificial intelligence competition. Built exclusively by the Dutch firm ASML, the Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) lithography scanner is the only commercially available system capable of mass-producing the world’s most advanced semiconductor chips. Since … Read more
Compute Governance and the Last Physical Chokepoints Why Licensing, Inspections, and Power Monitoring Matter More Than “Ethics Guidelines” AI governance debates often drift toward the software layer: model behavior, bias audits, content moderation, explainability. Those issues matter. But they share a dangerous implication—that artificial intelligence is primarily a digital phenomenon, floating above the physical world … Read more
Introduction: Beyond the Bubble Narrative As market volatility leads some to question the longevity of the AI sector, many commentators have labeled the technology a speculative bubble. Stock-market bubbles reflect sentiment—optimism, hype, and fear—which can burst overnight. The “bubble” narrative persists because speculative frenzy in public markets is far easier to see than the technical … Read more
The Quantum Variable Why Policy Must Anticipate Convergence Before It Accelerates Beyond Control Artificial intelligence is advancing rapidly. Quantum computing is advancing more slowly, but steadily. Each technology alone presents governance challenges. Together, they may alter the trajectory of technological power in ways existing policy frameworks are not designed to manage. The convergence of advanced … Read more