AI “Progress”: When Public Dollars Mask Private Decline

When Government-Backed “Innovation” Stops Looking Like Innovation Let’s cut through the noise. The real danger isn’t just that AI might disappoint. It’s that we are letting the state — with all its power to tax, regulate, subsidize, and socialize risk — become the primary engine behind what’s sold to us as “progress.” Subsidies Are Not Innovation Data centers, supercomputers, national AI labs — when these get built with taxpayer backing, what we’re witnessing isn’t market demand meeting supply. It’s the heavy hand of government allocating capital. True innovation in a liberal-market sense happens when individuals and entrepreneurs risk their own capital because they believe there’s real demand. Not when bureaucrats funnel public debt into trendy infrastructure. Risk Should Be Private…