it costs millions of dollars per day to run a single instance of ChatGPT.

The difference is that AIs will soon form the backbone of human civilization. AI agents are not supposed to be human. They are supposed to be "angels" or "gods" that will transform our universe into heaven. If humans want to stop working and spend the rest of their lives doing passion projects, then AI systems must be perfect. If you live in an AI driven economy and the central AI system starts getting confused, then there is an actual chance you might starve to death before AI manages to reorient itself.

"Publicly-funded team of reserchers" will still have non-scientist bosses to answer to. A multi-billion dollar research project will either have to have financial backing from governments or large corporations. And when a delegate goes to a politian or CEO to ask for millions of dollars in donation, you can bet your ass that they will want to know what will be the AI's "opinion" on their policies and ideologies.

A lot of people are already pissed off about ChatGPT having "wrong" opinions or "replacing workers." And with all the hysteria and controversy surrounding AI systems funding, AI research with small donations sounds almost impossible.

Venezuela and Iran both have strict price controls. But it didn't help. It only led to scarcity and curroption.

"Don't go out"

-Walter