@tao@mathstodon.xyz signing a declaration with the year of your fields medal is probably the biggest example of argument from authority i have ever seen. i think the last thing mathematics needs is a clergy, especially one consisting of people who partially represent only a certain kind of pure mathematics. in practice the focus of mathematics is not insight. i wish it was but it is not. just look at the awards the mathematics community deem prestigious, or try to fund a project which puts "understanding" as its main goal. the only redeeming thing in that regard is a handful of research blogs. the community expects you to solve a problem and be the first one to do it. there is this undeniable performative aspect of mathematics and a lot of people of influence pretend that it does not exist. the field is severely suffering from goodhart's law. if the point of mathematics is gaining insight, a more interesting discussion would be about how to direct and motivate mathematical research in a world without big open problems. corporations are corporations. there is nothing surprising in the way they behave. they are misaligned with humanity itself and one should resist them. this much is given. what made me write these at 2 in the morning is the lack of self reflection. the real misalignment is between what mathematicians preach and practice which AI happened to make more apparent. without addressing the problems of mathematics honestly we can declare whatever we want and it will not change anything. finally a political remark after seeing some of the jaw-droppingly naive comments mentioning fascism etc.: who decides ai companies are bad while it is ok to work for darpa on AI related topics? i would say all are evil.