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AI Power, Lobbying, Military, and the East India Company (NYT Opinion)

By Alexis Dufresne Published August 30, 2026 at 00:41 UTC

Summary

Five vetted experts shared this NYT opinion piece drawing the East India Company parallel for AI labs gaining military and lobbying power—a historical frame that tends to lodge in readers' thinking and reframe the whole governance debate; paywalled, full content not directly verified.

Shared on Bluesky by 5 AI experts

Anil Dash @anildash.com amplified

@willdalrymple.bsky.social

An essay I've just written for @nytimes on why Big Tech is the 21st Century’s equivalent of the East India Company: "What It Would Take to Dismantle the Most Powerful Companies in the World" www.nytimes.com/2026/08/28/o…
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Tiffany C. Li @tiffanycli.bsky.social amplified

@kairyssdal.bsky.social

Tell me again history doesn’t matter
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Ingrid Burrington @lifewinning.com amplified

@profmsinha.bsky.social

Historian here excellent piece by William Dalrymple www.nytimes.com/2026/08/28/o...
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Shobita Parthasarathy @shobitap.org: William Dalrymple on how the East India company teaches us how to dismantle Big Tech:"As the history of the East India Company shows, there … →
Amy Hoy @amyhoy.bsky.social amplified

Shobita Parthasarathy @shobitap.org

William Dalrymple on how the East India company teaches us how to dismantle Big Tech:"As the history of the East India Company shows, there can come a point when a corporation stops being just a company and begins seizin…
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Original headline: AI Power, Lobbying, Military, and the East India Company (NYT Opinion)