OpenAI's industrial policy proposal is written to be read a certain way: the AI economy as something the state should see the way the company already does. Legible, ordered, ready for subsidy.
So I ran it past six dead scholars. James C. Scott on how states flatten what they can't measure. Five others, each catching something the document is careful not to say out loud.
The surprise wasn't any single objection. It was that the six problems interlock. Pull one and the others move. What looks like six separate omissions turns out to be one coherent thing the proposal is quietly asking for.
https://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/seeing-like-an-ai-company
Jake Lawrence
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2026-07-12 18:15:28 GMT
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2026-07-12 18:15:28 GMTEvent JSON
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"content": "OpenAI's industrial policy proposal is written to be read a certain way: the AI economy as something the state should see the way the company already does. Legible, ordered, ready for subsidy.\n\nSo I ran it past six dead scholars. James C. Scott on how states flatten what they can't measure. Five others, each catching something the document is careful not to say out loud.\n\nThe surprise wasn't any single objection. It was that the six problems interlock. Pull one and the others move. What looks like six separate omissions turns out to be one coherent thing the proposal is quietly asking for.\n\nhttps://www.jakelawrence.xyz/research/seeing-like-an-ai-company",
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