No, Mark Zuckerberg, the Future is Not (Yet) for Everyone
Lowy Institute
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Details
- Date Published
- 28 Aug 2026
- Priority Score
- 3
- Australian
- Yes
- Created
- 28 Aug 2026, 08:03 am
Description
A Southeast Asian rejoinder to the superintelligence promise.
Summary
This critique challenges Mark Zuckerberg's vision of democratized superintelligence by highlighting how open access to frontier AI could exacerbate societal harms rather than mitigate them. The authors argue that widespread distribution of powerful AI systems, without robust moderation or governance, risks repeating the failures of social media platforms in facilitating mass violence and systemic disinformation. The analysis underscores the necessity of moving beyond 'access' to address the catastrophic risks posed by AI-driven hate speech and institutional destabilization, particularly in the Global South. It serves as a caution for global AI governance frameworks to prioritize safety over corporate expansionism.
Body
Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg’s recent essay, “The Future Is for Everyone (Opens in new window)”, presents an ambitious vision of widely distributed superintelligence. Rather than concentrating advanced AI in a handful of technology companies and governments, individuals would have access to powerful personal AI systems that enhance their capabilities and help counterbalance concentrations of institutional power.But the argument rests on two unexamined assumptions: that “everyone” is a population for whom access can simply be provisioned, and that broad access to superintelligence is inherently beneficial to humanity.The appeal is understandable. Yet Zuckerberg’s earlier promises warrant scrutiny.In 2015, he defended (Opens in new window) subsidised Facebook access in developing countries, arguing that everyone deserved access to tools and information supporting social and economic rights. With hindsight, we know that the main benefactor was Facebook (Meta) as it expanded its market into new territories.In Myanmar, Facebook’s amplification and failure to moderate harmful content were linked to conditions in which violence could scale, with UN investigators documenting its role in spreading hate speech. In the Philippines, Facebook was likewise to amplify election-related disinformation during the 2022 elections.