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Just as a reminder, Google DeepMind is right here in the UK, and there are hundreds, thousands of top AI researchers that are foundational to everything that th

Just as a reminder, Google DeepMind is right here in the UK, and there are hundreds, thousands of top AI researchers that are foundational to everything that the US is doing, as much, if more so than the Chinese contributions. We need compute, yes, but we certainly aren't short of talent if we put our minds to it, and many of them are already here.

epolanski 3mo ago
Deepmind lab is a US company.
- ben_w 3mo ago
  By ownership perhaps. Founded in the UK, then bought by Google, it still has its HQ in London.
  - Epa095 3mo ago
    It is a good example that what Europe lacks is capital. And there is an rich get richer phenomenon where wealth flows to the USA, and successful European companies gets sold (and many talented Europeans ends up working for American companies). In many ways the dynamic is one of a colony.
    - ben_w 3mo ago
      The more I learn about modern economics, the less I feel I know. Right now, the sense I have is that the flow of money from Europe to the USA is more like using the US as a flag of convenience than a material loss of wealth, especially given how many "American" companies have European offices filled with European staff and how much money is made selling space for ads from European companies to European users.
  - epolanski 3mo ago
    Does it matter? If they develop the "next big thing" and the next US administration decides its for US citizens only, nothing has changed.
    - ben_w 3mo ago
      Does it matter in which countries the offices with the staff who develop some of these models are? I think so, for a number of reasons too long to go into. Re "US citizens only", the question I'd have right now for all the AI companies is: can any new better-or-as-good-as Fable AI model actually be released? If not, stop development of better models. That's the single most expensive thing any of them are doing. Export controls on software is somewhere between "hard" and "impossible", so "US citizens only" means something between "nobody" and "perhaps some government agents", but the latter don't pay enough to justify the cost.

epolanski 3mo ago

Deepmind lab is a US company.

ben_w 3mo ago
By ownership perhaps. Founded in the UK, then bought by Google, it still has its HQ in London.
- Epa095 3mo ago
  It is a good example that what Europe lacks is capital. And there is an rich get richer phenomenon where wealth flows to the USA, and successful European companies gets sold (and many talented Europeans ends up working for American companies). In many ways the dynamic is one of a colony.
  - ben_w 3mo ago
    The more I learn about modern economics, the less I feel I know. Right now, the sense I have is that the flow of money from Europe to the USA is more like using the US as a flag of convenience than a material loss of wealth, especially given how many "American" companies have European offices filled with European staff and how much money is made selling space for ads from European companies to European users.
- epolanski 3mo ago
  Does it matter? If they develop the "next big thing" and the next US administration decides its for US citizens only, nothing has changed.
  - ben_w 3mo ago
    Does it matter in which countries the offices with the staff who develop some of these models are? I think so, for a number of reasons too long to go into. Re "US citizens only", the question I'd have right now for all the AI companies is: can any new better-or-as-good-as Fable AI model actually be released? If not, stop development of better models. That's the single most expensive thing any of them are doing. Export controls on software is somewhere between "hard" and "impossible", so "US citizens only" means something between "nobody" and "perhaps some government agents", but the latter don't pay enough to justify the cost.