David Sacks Pushes Local, Open-Source AI as Antidote to a 'Big Brother' Surveillance State

David Sacks, the Craft Ventures co-founder and co-chair of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, is arguing that running open-source AI on personal hardware is the best defense against a future in which artificial intelligence and Big Tech combine into a pervasive surveillance apparatus. In a widely circulated post, Sacks acknowledged the risk that AI plus concentrated corporate and government power could evolve into a modern-day Big Brother, but framed the choice starkly: rather than living off the grid or inside a digital panopticon, individuals and organizations can pursue a third path by running their own models on their own machines and retaining data sovereignty.