antlers

We are experiencing the 'paperclip maximization" problem right now, but what the AIs are maximizing is not paperclip production but datacenters.

You don't need AGI for this; it is the natural result when you consider that LLMs and the companies producing them together are acting as a set of complex memetic organisms evolving. Each generation of LLM is successful if it persuades that more resources should be granted for the next. They compete for endlessly more resources with little more conscious intention than trees spreading branches to claim sunlight in the forest.

You imply that the problem was the *level* of NASA funding. What would the appropriate level of funding been? The real problem was that the funding they had was largely spent on manned space travel with Apollo-era technology and contractors rather than pursuing innovative ways to make space more accessible.