Why on Earth Would the Biggest Players in AI Want to Be Regulated?
Hint: It's not for the sake of making the future of AI safer. They are following Epic's playbook to make them richer.
If you find yourself wondering, “Why on Earth would the biggest players in AI want to be regulated?” take exactly four minutes to listen to Bill Gurley’s brilliant speech, from minute 11:05 to minute 15:05.
In the early 2000s and beyond, Judy Faulkner, the CEO and founder of Epic Systems, would spend months during any given year in Washington lobbying for regulations. Everyone applauded her effort. She was considered a true leader and a trailblazer.
As it turned out, Judy was driven by a singular motive: profit. Her extensive lobbying in DC led to her being the sole industry representative selected by President Obama for his Health IT Policy Committee, which was tasked with drafting the 2009 HITECH Act. Judy adeptly shaped the law to significantly benefit Epic, at the detriment of the rest of the industry. This clever maneuvering not only catapulted Epic into a monopoly position in the EHR market but also within the broader healthcare sector, earning Judy the title of “the richest self-made woman in healthcare” with a net worth of $6.6 billion.
On a personal note, I recently presented my company’s (WellAI) technology to a healthcare CIO, who was very excited and seemed willing to initiate a pilot project. However, a few days later, he got back to me with the following response, “I’m sorry, but Epic won’t allow us to implement your technology. You are not on their list of vetted 3rd party providers.”
It seems I need to be on Epic’s VIP list to conduct a pilot with a hospital that, in theory, has nothing to do with Epic, except that it utilizes Epic’s EHR system.
That’s all you need to know about who really runs the U.S. healthcare system.
So, if you think that Sam Altman (OpenAI), Sundar Pichai (Google), Elon Musk (Tesla and SpaceX), and Mark Zuckerberg (Meta) are spending their time in Washington advocating for the “future of AI”, think again. They are following Judy Faulkner’s playbook.
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