People keep talking about AI as if it was this one product we produced on a shelf, and if we don't like it, we're stuck with it.

That may be the case for now, but it'll get to the point where even if the best-in-class models only comes from two or three other states/companies, there will be dozens if not hundreds of comparable AI tools that aren't privately owned.

So, again, it'll get to the point where some authoritarian government could go "muahaha, bow before TyrantBot's massive intellect, engineered by my scientist thralls" but we'll just roll our eyes and just print out an additional, slightly less-capable AI to thwart it.

The point is: it won't matter. It'll be out of any unitary or small-group intelligence's hands, benevolent or authoritarian. There's a reason why elephants are afraid of bees.