Commentary: Today's tycoons learn a lesson from history public esteem for rich entrepreneurs inevitably sours

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Set us as preferred It’s a story that seems almost as old as time itself: business tycoons forced to make a public defense — whether before a jury or a congressional committee or in the court of public opinion — of products that made them billionaires but turned out to exert hidden harm on society.They often betray their shock at being brought to public book by displaying a deer-in-the-headlights look from the witness table while making performatively abject apologies or insisting on the world-changing virtues of their work, if it isn’t misused.For example, here’s Snap co-founder and CEO Evan Spiegel — whose company faces numerous lawsuits over its alleged failure to protect children from harmful content on its Snapchat app — testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee in January 2024: I was at home, gentlemen, playing a rubber of whist.And I never allow anything to interfere with me when I am playing that game.— Cornelius Vanderbilt, explaining why he left a trainload of passengers freeze overnight so he could win a monopoly fight “Words cannot begin to express the profound sorrow I feel that a service we designed to bring people happiness and joy has been abused to cause harm.” He called for “broader industry support for legislation protecting children online.”Public discontent has been rising over the potential dangers of artificial intelligence, and a political backlash has erupted over the proliferation of data centers planned and built by AI firms and their voracious demands on local water and electricity supplies.

In Independence, Mo., one city councilman lost a recall vote Tuesday by 68% due to his support for a data center.Commentary on economics and more from a Pulitzer Prize winner.By continuing, you agree to our Terms of Service, which include arbitration and a class action waiver.

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