Elites Court AI Labs for Control

Political and media elites are repositioning themselves by courting AI researchers and companies as the new loci of social power. Rather than debating broad tech policy, the strategy mixes reputational pressure, narrative framing (accusations about private conversations) and regulatory signaling to influence who builds and governs AI. — If true and sustained, this approach shifts how regulation, access, and platform norms are decided — concentrating leverage in relationships between political elites and AI actors and raising capture and free‑speech risks.