The Race to Stop AI’s Threats to Democracy
Reveal
The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX
4.7 • 8K Ratings
🗓️ 8 October 2025
⏱️ 36 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
More To The Story: OpenAI became the world’s most valuable private company last week after a stock deal pushed the value of the artificial intelligence developer to $500 billion. But when OpenAI was founded a decade ago, the company’s approach to artificial intelligence wasn’t taken seriously in Silicon Valley. Tech journalist Karen Hao has been covering OpenAI’s astounding rise for years and recently wrote a book about the company, Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman’s OpenAI. She says that while many in Silicon Valley warn of AI’s sci fi–like threats, the real risks are already here. (The Center for Investigative Reporting, which produces Reveal and More To The Story, is currently suing OpenAI and Microsoft for copyright infringement.)
On this week’s More To The Story, Hao sounds the alarm about the risks to the planet from AI’s growth, examines the Trump administration’s efforts to deregulate the industry, and explains why the version of AI being developed by Silicon Valley could destabilize democracy.
Producer: Josh Sanburn | Editor: Kara McGuirk-Allison | Theme music: Fernando Arruda and Jim Briggs | Copy editor: Nikki Frick | Deputy executive producer: Taki Telonidis | Executive producer: Brett Myers | Executive editor: James West | Host: Al Letson
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Read: America’s Worst Polluters See a Lifeline in Power-Gobbling AI—and Donald Trump (Wired)
Listen: Is AI Pushing Us Closer to Nuclear Disaster? (More To The Story)
Read: Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman’s OpenAI (Penguin Press)
Read: The Center for Investigative Reporting Sues OpenAI, Microsoft for Copyright Violations (Mother Jones)
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| 0:00.0 | We are allowing the tech industry to consolidate this extraordinary degree of resources, unlike |
| 0:09.4 | anything ever before. |
| 0:10.9 | I mean, we thought that they were already powerful during the social media era. |
| 0:15.3 | In the AI era, the amount of resources and the amount of influence and domination that they now have |
| 0:23.3 | is of a fundamentally different degree. |
| 0:27.1 | On this week's more to the story, tech journalist Karen Howe sounds the alarm about the rising risks to our planet |
| 0:34.1 | from the growth of artificial intelligence. |
| 0:37.1 | Stay with us. |
| 0:42.6 | Hey, this is Al, and I'm sure it is no surprise to you that President Trump doesn't like us very much. |
| 0:49.6 | He called the press the enemy of the people. Credential journalists have been banned from press briefings |
| 0:55.0 | just for asking tough questions. Trump personally sued news networks demanding billions. And now, |
| 1:02.5 | at his urging, Congress has voted to gut all federal funding for public broadcasting. And I think I |
| 1:08.6 | know why. I think we all do. It's because real journalism |
| 1:11.7 | brings sunlight, scrutiny, accountability. When power feels threatened, it lashes out. And that |
| 1:18.6 | tells you just how vital independent reporting is right now. Here it reveal, we don't answer to |
| 1:24.9 | billionaires or politicians or special interests. We only answer to you, |
| 1:30.1 | our listeners, but we can't do this alone. Stand with us. Support fearless independent journalism |
| 1:36.4 | that refuses to back down. Donate today. Just visit reveal news.org slash fearless. Again, that's reveal news.org slash fearless. Thanks. |
| 1:50.2 | This is more to the story. I'm Al Letson. It's difficult these days to escape the reach of artificial |
| 2:03.3 | intelligence. Maybe you've played around with it to answer a random question or relied on it at work |
| 2:09.1 | to accomplish some routine task. Open social media and you'll find AI generated memes everywhere. |
| 2:16.3 | Even the president has shared fake videos created by |
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