Getting a valuation from the US government via the equity tax allows OpenAI to tell investors “we are worth a trillion [dollars]”

Mike and Nick examine the dangerous intersection of good intentions, astroturfing, and the kayfabe of the AI bubble. They compare Senator Sanders' proposal for an AI wealth tax to the industry's. Mike also details how industry operatives might be using the left's talking points against them to shape the policy agenda.

• The valuation magic trick: Valuations are invocations: numbers that become real once believed. If a politician proposes taxing a company based on a specific valuation, they aren't just taking money, they are validating a price tag.
• Bailouts in broad daylight: If the government holds equity in AI companies, the state becomes a stakeholder. A “tax” becomes a vested interest in an industry losing billions.
• 'Weaponized memetic schismogenesis:' Through influence campaigns AI industry affiliates are nudging critics to frame the debate.

Timestamps

0:00 Last Enclosure purpose

2:58 Sanders and Altman, aligned?

5:22 Importance of a valuation

7:54 Perverse incentives + bad tools

15:10 Schismogenesis and Bernie

29:29 Bernie and Yudkowsky

36:22 The legitimacy of Effective Altruism

37:37 Bernie vs Claude

39:34 Hank Green, Bernie, and AI Safety

46:50 Anthropic and EA

53:49 Is this a bailout?

1:00:55 Don't fall for kayfabe

1:03:35 AI economics redux (open source race)

1:12:55 Local models kill AGI

1:16:22 Conclusion

Deeper learning

Sanders' proposal: forbes.com/sites/jamesbroughel/2026/06/22/bernie-sanders-wants-a-us-sovereign-wealth-fund-for-ai

Altman's proposal: techcrunch.com/2026/07/02/openai-proposed-donating-5-of-its-equity-to-a-us-sovereign-wealth-fund

Anthropic's proposal: apnews.com/article/anthropic-dario-amodei-ai-afeb5279eef406980dffa46ff91495e0

Amodei's policy vision: darioamodei.com/post/policy-on-the-ai-exponential

Mike's rant on “left is missing out” bsky.app/profile/misaligned.markets/post/3mf76r4ewd22x

Yudkowsky: “Shut it all down” (2023 Time article): time.com/6266923/ai-eliezer-yudkowsky-open-letter-not-enough

AI influence in Sci YouTube: youtube.com/watch?v=0Plo-zT8W9w

Sci-educator on Hank Green: youtube.com/watch?v=9dXqf5CRH5U

Reach out

Site: rss.com/podcasts/the-last-enclosure

Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/lastenclosure.bsky.social