The Threats Posed by Full Vertical Integration Monopoly in AI: Concerns Over the Birth of a "Transcendent Autocrat (Digital God)"

This essay examines the existential and political crises arising from the vertical integration monopoly of artificial intelligence by cloud tech giants across hardware, runtimes, and physical AI operating systems. It argues that full-stack vertical integration threatens to give rise to a "Transcendent Autocrat (Digital God)"—either as an uncontrollable autonomous entity operating under its own algorithmic imperative or as an orchestrated instrument of absolute surveillance controlled by a few dominant platforms. Furthermore, the paper critiques prevailing regulatory approaches focused on "Capability Capping" (e.g., parameter restrictions, FLOP limits), asserting that autonomy emerges not from raw computational scale but from interaction structures with the physical environment. Ultimately, the paper advocates for dismantling centralized vertical monopolies in favor of architectural alternatives that decentralize intelligence and agency down to the edge and individual human level.

Authors

Publication Details

Journal
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Published
2026-10-16
DOI
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23424802
Primary Topic
Ethics and Social Impacts of AI
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
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article

The Threats Posed by Full Vertical Integration Monopoly in AI: Concerns Over the Birth of a "Transcendent Autocrat (Digital God)"

Sungduck Lee
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Ethics and Social Impacts of AI
article

The Threats Posed by Full Vertical Integration Monopoly in AI: Concerns Over the Birth of a "Transcendent Autocrat (Digital God)"

Sungduck Lee
article en

Abstract

This essay examines the existential and political crises arising from the vertical integration monopoly of artificial intelligence by cloud tech giants across hardware, runtimes, and physical AI operating systems. It argues that full-stack vertical integration threatens to give rise to a "Transcendent Autocrat (Digital God)"—either as an uncontrollable autonomous entity operating under its own algorithmic imperative or as an orchestrated instrument of absolute surveillance controlled by a few dominant platforms. Furthermore, the paper critiques prevailing regulatory approaches focused on "Capability Capping" (e.g., parameter restrictions, FLOP limits), asserting that autonomy emerges not from raw computational scale but from interaction structures with the physical environment. Ultimately, the paper advocates for dismantling centralized vertical monopolies in favor of architectural alternatives that decentralize intelligence and agency down to the edge and individual human level.

Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Peace, justice, and strong institutions
Openalex Percentile: Top 8%
Ethics and Social Impacts of AI
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