Yves here. Tom Valovic explains not only how AI is being actively used to expand the reach of the surveillance state, but also how its growing role in information extraction and summarization is being used to determine which facts and theories are considered valid.
By Tom Valovic, author, editor, futurist, and author of Digital Mythologies (Rutgers University Press), a series of essays that examines emerging social and cultural issues raised by the advent of the Internet. He served as a consultant to the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment and was editor-in-chief of Telecommunications magazine for many years. Tom has written about the effects of technology on society in a variety of publications including Common Dreams, Counterpunch, Technoskeptic, Boston Globe, San Francisco Examiner, Columbia University’s Media Studies Journal, and others. He can be reached at jazzbird@outlook.com. Originally published on Common Dreams
In the first few weeks of the presidency, Donald Trump announced a massive AI infrastructure project called Stargate. It was an unexpected and unusual event for the new administration’s first major step. It now seems clear that the project was a highly coordinated effort between the federal government and the Big Tech powerhouse that is orchestrating many of its programs as the US dives into full technocrat mode.
Stargate is an ongoing $500 billion partnership aimed at accelerating AI. It includes tech behemoths like OpenAI, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Oracle. In short, that means only one thing: a huge push to install AI data centers in every US state as quickly as possible. From a public perspective, Stargate has faded from memory and neither the public nor many media outlets are making any connection with the data center controversy that is now gripping the nation and generating headlines almost daily.
Clearly, this program is part of a larger goal to establish the US as a world leader in AI innovation, especially in relation to similar efforts in China. But, apparently, after the announcement, OpenAI described Stargate as a project that “will not only support the reconstruction of the US but also provide a strategic capability to protect the national security of the United States and its allies.” Here is a translation of that language: military use and protection against cyber threats.
Surprisingly, at the press conference announcing it, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison he casually remarked: “All the police will be under surveillance at all times, if there is a problem, the AI will report that problem and report it to the right person. Citizens will be going their own way because we are always recording and reporting everything that happens.”
What is even more surprising is that such an announcement of the intention to consolidate mass surveillance was not received by journalists and editors in the business media. At an Oracle financial analyst meeting, Ellison decided that AI would be used to process large amounts of camera footage that includes data from car dashboards, front-end security systems, and Flock cameras. Meanwhile, many states are busy deploying Flock’s highly controversial tools to feed the AI monster’s insatiable appetite for data. The good news is that, according to both the American Civil Liberties Union and mainstream media, there has been strong citizen pushback against Flock cameras, even if the general public is not aware of the full range of Trump-Ellison’s vision of a dystopian digital panopticon.
Countries Cooperating with Trump’s Plan
It seems clear that Stargate’s move is bureaucratic in nature. This complete imposition of a technological superstructure imposed by an unholy alliance between the federal government and Big Tech business—the concept of a public-private partnership on steroids—is at odds with our basic democratic processes. And while there is a temptation to lay this at the door of the Republican-controlled Congress, make no mistake—the change is deep and systematic and includes compliance with Democrats.
Let’s look at one example. In blue states, Massachusetts, Democratic Gov. Maura Healey has been working closely with many Big Tech companies including AI giants like Google and OpenAI. In February 2026, he announced a partnership with both companies. As explained in a press release: “At the Google office in Cambridge today, Governor Maura Healey announced a new statewide partnership with Grow with Google to give all Massachusetts residents access to artificial intelligence…This program is designed to help provide all residents and small businesses with the AI and technology skills they need to thrive in today’s digital economy for free.” At the same time, Healey also announced the launch of a program involving Open AI’s ChatGPT, making Massachusetts the first state to adopt the use of AI throughout the executive branch of about 40,000 employees.
But committing to AI is a necessary infrastructure commitment. AI data centers are springing up like dandelions in states across the US. This often happens without oversight due to undemocratic non-disclosure agreements that keep data center construction projects out of sight of the cities and towns that will have to live with them as they siphon available public services like electricity and water while increasing the cost of those essentials. This happens in both red and blue regions.
AI’s Subtle Shift Towards the Concept of Authorization
Stargate and the data center debacle is the most obvious aspect of the threat of censorship. There is one that is perhaps more subtle. For years, a catchy phrase has been popping up in high-tech circles: “the single source of truth.” It’s a tempting idea of course as we all yearn for simplification in this ever-expanding world. But this conceptual framework forms the basis for a new and more subtle form of authoritarianism. And the rapid development of AI is increasingly pushing this misconception into alarmingly wide acceptance, even in academic and professional circles.
The widespread adoption of AI is based on the common wisdom that it will greatly expand the human panorama of knowledge, science and so on. The reality may be very different. In fact, it is possible that the exact opposite will be the result. How is this possible? Let me explain. In its current trajectory, the use of AI seems to be hacking a vast area of facts, ideas, and opinions across the arc of human knowledge and many fields. The danger is that we are slowly being led to believe that there is one “right” answer to every known question, issue, or conundrum in politics, science, religion, politics, philosophy, and many other aspects of modern life.
While AI appears to be a gateway to previously untapped potential, one of its most impactful aspects remains poorly understood. AI is built to work not only as a new route to the Internet but also as a guardian and arbiter of truth and falsehood.. As a matter of fact, it doesn’t improve the internet… rather it replaces it. This change means that web searches will be done more by AI agents than by humans. At its annual I/O developer conference in May 2026, Google CEO Sundar Pichai confirmed this as a major shift in the company’s strategy. As noted by Sarah Perez at TechCrunch, “Links will be the latest thought in the coming changes to the search results experience.” Goodbye to searching as we know it.
In behind-the-scenes Oz-like fashion, the raw power of this new form of information manipulation remains invisible but is omnipresent and affects every aspect of our lives. Nice setup. Big Tech can always curl up and say it’s not responsible: We only improved it, and now it’s “doing its own thing.” Meanwhile, they are raising billions and starting charging businesses and ordinary internet users for AI capabilities that were initially offered as free services.
AI will increase our dependence on technology by orders of magnitude, reducing our sense of human organization that is now so necessary to combat the effects of living in everyday polycrisis and political gridlock. Over time, this may turn into a form of “learned helplessness” and a drastic reduction of grassroots political power. Society will be organized into strict categories depending on the nature of the AI. Meanwhile, as poet and political commentator Katha Pollitt has noted, AI is also reducing “language, thought, humanity and art.”
Obviously, this is not a pretty picture but, in my opinion, there are real reasons for hope on the horizon. Increasingly, technological expropriation is being revealed for what it is: an anti-democratic force informed by a warped vision of what constitutes quality of life (ie, Silicon Valley transhumanism) and the acceleration of capitalism that has wreaked havoc on our planet’s ecosystem.
The push back for data center AI is a wake-up call. Big Tech elitists have hooks into everything—from what’s happening in the privacy of our homes to the AI-driven militaries we’re seeing unfold around the world. But the next six months and the mid-term elections represent an important window of opportunity to change much of this and “just say no” to the AI juggernaut. I believe there is a very good chance that the nationwide push we are seeing now regarding AI data centers and the rejection of the failed use of computers in education may be the start of a new wave of hope, renewal, and the restoration of democracy and common sense. Stay tuned.
