Machines are, in fact, already beginning to replace us. And the vision Big Tech oligarchs have for the future gets only more frightening. Musk is building Neuralink to implant chips in people’s brains in order to achieve a “symbiosis with artificial intelligence.” Thiel has decamped to Argentina, where President Javier Milei has called for the establishment of “non-human corporations” operated by AI agents, for which “human shareholders may participate, but are not required.” An Anthropic co-founder, Christopher Olah, has been trying to convince religious leaders, including the pope, that AI could be conscious.

Corporations that don't need any humans? Human corporations already seem too powerful relative to mere citizens, this ratchets that power up a few notches. What does it mean for democracy?