Who Writes the AI Standards?

Political cartoon showing major AI and tech figures signing a giant document labeled “AI Standards” under the banner “We the Companies,” while a viewer asks, “Do we get a vote or an update?” A sign nearby reads “Future Law?”
Synthetic Civilization / VizierPrime You don’t need to abolish democracy. Writing the first draft of the rules is already a pretty good head start.

Note

Technical standards increasingly function as upstream governance. The first draft of the rules is often written by companies, labs, and private standard-setting actors before any visible democratic process catches up. The point is not just influence, but relocation: power moving from formal public institutions into quieter operational layers.

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