Corporate power may impeded effective governance
The increasing power and influence of large corporations may make effective governance difficult. There exists a power asymmetry between corporate entities profiting from LLMs and other social groups (e.g. civil society). State-of-the-art LLMs are developed by or in partnership with, some of the world’s largest private tech companies...This poses a risk of governance protocols related to LLMs becoming excessively favorable to tech companies, potentially leading to regulatory capture at the cost of the interests of other societal groups, particularly marginalized communities who have historically been disproportionately affected by poorly designed AI technologies (Reventlow, 2021).
ENTITY
3 - Other
INTENT
2 - Unintentional
TIMING
3 - Other
Risk ID
mit1501
Domain lineage
6. Socioeconomic and Environmental
6.1 > Power centralization and unfair distribution of benefits
Mitigation strategy
1. Establish independent and technically expert AI governance bodies with systemic procedural safeguards designed to resist regulatory capture, ensuring policies are grounded in public interest rather than commercial advantage. 2. Mandate the structural and continuous involvement of diverse, non-corporate stakeholders (civil society, academia, marginalized communities) in AI policy development and audits, empowering them with legally binding input to redistribute decision-making control and ensure equitable outcomes. 3. Implement explicit competition policies aimed at reducing market concentration among foundational LLM developers to diminish the economic leverage and resource asymmetry large corporations hold over regulatory processes.