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There's a very real chance the USA will get lucky and find a new means of economic domination through its AI companies and the looming space build-out. Its self

There's a very real chance the USA will get lucky and find a new means of economic domination through its AI companies and the looming space build-out. Its self-destructiveness right now, flouting longstanding alliances and truckling to its enemies, would ruin it in any other moment in its history. But in these unusual circumstances, it might not matter.

skywhopper 10mo ago
Nah, AI is a massive money pit, and Starship has proven to be a dead end. The real tech revolutions of the moment are in energy production and storage and health care advances like mRNA and GLP-1. The US is actively self-sabotaging on both energy and health care at the moment.
- ericmay 10mo ago
  In what specific way is the United States self-sabotaging on GLP-1s? Is the current Republican administration against them? I’m confused.
  - skywhopper 10mo ago
    They are decimating academic research into health care tech in general. There’s been mixed messaging from the administration on GLP-1s (although if they keep pushing on the eugenics theme, they will solidify as anti on those as well soon enough) but that wasn’t really the point. I named mRNA and GLP-1s as two examples of modern tech revolutions that are not AI or space-related. Those are the modern tech breakthroughs, not AI and definitely not space launches. (I went back and edited the post to make it clearer what I meant by “both”).
    - ericmay 10mo ago
      > There’s been mixed messaging from the administration on GLP-1s Do you have any examples? This is what I've seen: https://www.cnbc.com/2025/11/06/trump-eli-lilly-novo-nordisk-deal-obesity-drug-prices.html https://www.cnbc.com/2025/11/06/trump-eli-lilly-novo-nordisk... Wegovy and Zepbound have not been covered by Medicare for weight loss, “and they’ve only rarely been covered by Medicaid,” Trump said in the Oval Office. “They’ve often cost consumers more than $1,000 per month, some a lot more than that. ... That ends starting today." "“This is the biggest drug in our country, and that’s why this is the most important of all the [most favored nation] announcements we’ve made,” Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said during the briefing. “This is going to have the biggest impact on the American people. All Americans, even those who are not on Medicaid, Medicare, are going to be able to get the same price for their drugs, for their GLP-1s.""
- tim333 10mo ago
  On the other hand take a look at the world's largest companies by market cap https://companiesmarketcap.com/usd https://companiesmarketcap.com/usd The top 8 are American and 17 of the top 20. Seven of the top 8 are into AI. I'm not convinced it's going nowhere. Even if AI on it's own isn't profitable, companies like Nvidia, Apple and Google are doing fine.
  - SanjayMehta 10mo ago
    Market cap is just a metric of people's expectations on that company. It's relatively meaningless unless a transaction on stock takes place. Imagine if everyone holding shares of the top 8 companies decided to sell them simultaneously. That market cap wouldn't last the evening.
SanjayMehta 10mo ago
Unlikely. Silicon Valley is great for innovating new "intellectual property," but they don't manufacture any real products any more. China has entire cities which not only can develop IP, but they have the entire ecosystem collocated. Catching up with them will be expensive and will need focus. Focus is not something the current president seems to excel in.

skywhopper 10mo ago

Nah, AI is a massive money pit, and Starship has proven to be a dead end. The real tech revolutions of the moment are in energy production and storage and health care advances like mRNA and GLP-1. The US is actively self-sabotaging on both energy and health care at the moment.

ericmay 10mo ago
In what specific way is the United States self-sabotaging on GLP-1s? Is the current Republican administration against them? I’m confused.
- skywhopper 10mo ago
  They are decimating academic research into health care tech in general. There’s been mixed messaging from the administration on GLP-1s (although if they keep pushing on the eugenics theme, they will solidify as anti on those as well soon enough) but that wasn’t really the point. I named mRNA and GLP-1s as two examples of modern tech revolutions that are not AI or space-related. Those are the modern tech breakthroughs, not AI and definitely not space launches. (I went back and edited the post to make it clearer what I meant by “both”).
  - ericmay 10mo ago
    > There’s been mixed messaging from the administration on GLP-1s Do you have any examples? This is what I've seen: https://www.cnbc.com/2025/11/06/trump-eli-lilly-novo-nordisk-deal-obesity-drug-prices.html https://www.cnbc.com/2025/11/06/trump-eli-lilly-novo-nordisk... Wegovy and Zepbound have not been covered by Medicare for weight loss, “and they’ve only rarely been covered by Medicaid,” Trump said in the Oval Office. “They’ve often cost consumers more than $1,000 per month, some a lot more than that. ... That ends starting today." "“This is the biggest drug in our country, and that’s why this is the most important of all the [most favored nation] announcements we’ve made,” Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said during the briefing. “This is going to have the biggest impact on the American people. All Americans, even those who are not on Medicaid, Medicare, are going to be able to get the same price for their drugs, for their GLP-1s.""
tim333 10mo ago
On the other hand take a look at the world's largest companies by market cap https://companiesmarketcap.com/usd https://companiesmarketcap.com/usd The top 8 are American and 17 of the top 20. Seven of the top 8 are into AI. I'm not convinced it's going nowhere. Even if AI on it's own isn't profitable, companies like Nvidia, Apple and Google are doing fine.
- SanjayMehta 10mo ago
  Market cap is just a metric of people's expectations on that company. It's relatively meaningless unless a transaction on stock takes place. Imagine if everyone holding shares of the top 8 companies decided to sell them simultaneously. That market cap wouldn't last the evening.

SanjayMehta 10mo ago

Unlikely. Silicon Valley is great for innovating new "intellectual property," but they don't manufacture any real products any more. China has entire cities which not only can develop IP, but they have the entire ecosystem collocated. Catching up with them will be expensive and will need focus. Focus is not something the current president seems to excel in.