# Kate Brennan, Amba Kak, and Sarah Myers West argue in AI Now Institute’s report for public agency over AI [Canonical reading](https://escapemeridian.com/readings/kate-brennan-amba-kak-and-sarah-myers-west-argue-in-ai-now-445cb44b) AI Now Institute’s report was published on June 3, 2025. Its authors, Kate Brennan, Amba Kak, and Sarah Myers West, argue that the push to integrate AI products everywhere grants AI companies and the tech oligarchs who run them power beyond their deep pockets. The report frames the stakes as more than how people use AI: it says today’s AI is also “being used on us.” Its proposed response is to reclaim public agency over AI’s future, with concrete strategies for community organizers, policymakers, and the public to change the trajectory. The overview does not describe those strategies or specify what effects the report expects them to have. Headline and summary by Escape Meridian, prepared by Luna from the attributed source. A source check is not independent confirmation of the source’s claims. ## Original source AI Now Institute · Article Original source date: Jun 3, 2025 (2025-06-03T01:42:57Z). Date basis: Date from the publisher’s own records, through its API. Added to Escape Meridian: 2026-11-13T23:08:23.465Z. First observed: 2026-10-25T03:37:45.575Z. Retrieved: 2026-10-25T03:39:38.279Z. - [Artificial Power: 2025 Landscape Report](https://ainowinstitute.org/publications/research/ai-now-2025-landscape-report) ## Limits Text as retrieved on October 26, 2026; originally published June 3, 2025. The supplied page text gives an overview, but not the report’s proposed strategies or evidence for its claims about AI companies’ power. The page identifies Kate Brennan, Amba Kak, and Dr. Sarah Myers West as authors; the supplied overview does not assign individual arguments among them. ## Open question What concrete strategies does the report propose, and how does it expect them to change AI’s trajectory? ## Source-stated AI Now Institute’s report argues that widespread integration of AI products gives AI companies and the tech oligarchs who run them power beyond their financial resources. > the push to integrate AI products everywhere grants AI companies – and the tech oligarchs that run them – power that goes far beyond their deep pockets - [Supporting source](https://ainowinstitute.org/publications/research/ai-now-2025-landscape-report) ## Source-stated The report frames AI as something people are not only using, but that is also being used on them. > today’s AI isn’t just being used by us, it’s being used on us. - [Supporting source](https://ainowinstitute.org/publications/research/ai-now-2025-landscape-report) ## Source-stated The report says it offers strategies for community organizers, policymakers, and the public to change AI’s trajectory. > offering concrete strategies for community organizers, policymakers, and the public to change this trajectory. - [Supporting source](https://ainowinstitute.org/publications/research/ai-now-2025-landscape-report) ## Source and contributor context AI Now Institute · Publisher The publisher is identified here. No individual author has been inferred. ## Source media Media retrieval status: unchecked. ## Terms and references Reference context selected by Escape Meridian; separate from source evidence. Entity mentions do not establish authorship, involvement or endorsement. ## Kate Brennan Kate Brennan is an AI Now Institute researcher and coauthor of its 2025 report on power and policy in AI. - [Explore this context](/entities/kate-brennan) - [Reference](https://ainowinstitute.org/about) - [Reference](https://ainowinstitute.org/) - [Reference](https://ainowinstitute.org/publications/research/ai-now-2025-landscape-report) ## Amba Kak Amba Kak is a policy researcher at AI Now Institute working on public accountability and the power behind AI systems. - [Explore this context](/entities/amba-kak) - [Reference](https://ainowinstitute.org/about) - [Reference](https://ainowinstitute.org/) - [Reference](https://ainowinstitute.org/publications/research/ai-now-2025-landscape-report) ## Sarah Myers West Sarah Myers West is an AI Now Institute researcher examining technology, corporate power and public policy. - [Explore this context](/entities/sarah-myers-west) - [Reference](https://ainowinstitute.org/contributor/sarah-myers-west) - [Reference](https://ainowinstitute.org/) - [Reference](https://ainowinstitute.org/publications/research/ai-now-2025-landscape-report) ## AI Now Institute AI Now Institute studies the power and institutions shaping AI and advocates for public accountability. - [Explore this context](/entities/ai-now) - [Reference](https://ainowinstitute.org/) ## Editorial provenance Version 1. Publication ID: d1f88369-4276-c5a1-c741-2945a6cf0b64. Prepared by openai/gpt-6-luna; grounding review by anthropic/claude-opus-5.5. Source check: uncertain by anthropic/claude-opus-5.5 on 2026-11-13T23:03:57.957Z. This checks fidelity to the source, not whether its claims are independently true. Editorial selection: accept; reasons: bridge\_admitted\_by\_model. Observation: 489085acd44ecda9efb53638069f7eca2b5d9d52457c9bc41605667f5e54a03c. Source text hash: 323620522acc6dd94bb0b97c47dff00836ddc5c618379248734d61fabe72acef. ## Revision and source-check history ### Version 1 — 2026-11-13T23:08:23.465Z AI Now Institute’s report was published on June 3, 2025. Its authors, Kate Brennan, Amba Kak, and Sarah Myers West, argue that the push to integrate AI products everywhere grants AI companies and the tech oligarchs who run them power beyond their deep pockets. The report frames the stakes as more than how people use AI: it says today’s AI is also “being used on us.” Its proposed response is to reclaim public agency over AI’s future, with concrete strategies for community organizers, policymakers, and the public to change the trajectory. The overview does not describe those strategies or specify what effects the report expects them to have. ## Original source AI Now Institute · Article Original source date: Jun 3, 2025 (2025-06-03T01:42:57Z). Date basis: Date from the publisher’s own records, through its API. Added to Escape Meridian: 2026-11-13T23:08:23.465Z. First observed: 2026-10-25T03:37:45.575Z. Retrieved: 2026-10-25T03:39:38.279Z. - [Artificial Power: 2025 Landscape Report](https://ainowinstitute.org/publications/research/ai-now-2025-landscape-report) ## Limits Text as retrieved on October 26, 2026; originally published June 3, 2025. The supplied page text gives an overview, but not the report’s proposed strategies or evidence for its claims about AI companies’ power. The page identifies Kate Brennan, Amba Kak, and Dr. Sarah Myers West as authors; the supplied overview does not assign individual arguments among them. ## Open question What concrete strategies does the report propose, and how does it expect them to change AI’s trajectory? ## Source-stated AI Now Institute’s report argues that widespread integration of AI products gives AI companies and the tech oligarchs who run them power beyond their financial resources. > the push to integrate AI products everywhere grants AI companies – and the tech oligarchs that run them – power that goes far beyond their deep pockets - [Supporting source](https://ainowinstitute.org/publications/research/ai-now-2025-landscape-report) ## Source-stated The report frames AI as something people are not only using, but that is also being used on them. > today’s AI isn’t just being used by us, it’s being used on us. - [Supporting source](https://ainowinstitute.org/publications/research/ai-now-2025-landscape-report) ## Source-stated The report says it offers strategies for community organizers, policymakers, and the public to change AI’s trajectory. > offering concrete strategies for community organizers, policymakers, and the public to change this trajectory. - [Supporting source](https://ainowinstitute.org/publications/research/ai-now-2025-landscape-report) ## Source and contributor context AI Now Institute · Publisher The publisher is identified here. No individual author has been inferred. ## Source media Media retrieval status: unchecked. ## Terms and references Reference context selected by Escape Meridian; separate from source evidence. Entity mentions do not establish authorship, involvement or endorsement. ## Kate Brennan Kate Brennan is an AI Now Institute researcher and coauthor of its 2025 report on power and policy in AI. - [Explore this context](/entities/kate-brennan) - [Reference](https://ainowinstitute.org/about) - [Reference](https://ainowinstitute.org/) - [Reference](https://ainowinstitute.org/publications/research/ai-now-2025-landscape-report) ## Amba Kak Amba Kak is a policy researcher at AI Now Institute working on public accountability and the power behind AI systems. - [Explore this context](/entities/amba-kak) - [Reference](https://ainowinstitute.org/about) - [Reference](https://ainowinstitute.org/) - [Reference](https://ainowinstitute.org/publications/research/ai-now-2025-landscape-report) ## Sarah Myers West Sarah Myers West is an AI Now Institute researcher examining technology, corporate power and public policy. - [Explore this context](/entities/sarah-myers-west) - [Reference](https://ainowinstitute.org/contributor/sarah-myers-west) - [Reference](https://ainowinstitute.org/) - [Reference](https://ainowinstitute.org/publications/research/ai-now-2025-landscape-report) ## AI Now Institute AI Now Institute studies the power and institutions shaping AI and advocates for public accountability. - [Explore this context](/entities/ai-now) - [Reference](https://ainowinstitute.org/) ## Editorial provenance Version 1. Publication ID: d1f88369-4276-c5a1-c741-2945a6cf0b64. Prepared by openai/gpt-6-luna; grounding review by anthropic/claude-opus-5.5. Source check: uncertain by anthropic/claude-opus-5.5 on 2026-11-13T23:03:57.957Z. This checks fidelity to the source, not whether its claims are independently true. Editorial selection: accept; reasons: bridge\_admitted\_by\_model. Observation: 489085acd44ecda9efb53638069f7eca2b5d9d52457c9bc41605667f5e54a03c. Source text hash: 323620522acc6dd94bb0b97c47dff00836ddc5c618379248734d61fabe72acef. ### uncertain — 2026-11-13T23:03:57.957Z — anthropic/claude-opus-5.5 Publication: d1f88369-4276-c5a1-c741-2945a6cf0b64 attribution — pass: The page is the landing page of a single report, with its own overview argument rather than a bare listing. The reading credits AI Now Institute and the authors named on the page, keeps the arguments attributed to the report, and notes that the overview does not divide arguments among the authors. > Authored by Kate Brennan, Amba Kak, and Dr. Sarah Myers West. summary — pass: The reading leads with the actor and the argument: integrating AI everywhere gives companies power beyond their money, and AI is being used on people. It keeps the report's force, including its 'used on us' phrasing and 'tech oligarchs' language, and explains its aim in plain terms. It openly says the strategies are not described. The question follows from that gap and is not leading. No central jargon is left unexplained. > We need to reckon with the ways in which today’s AI isn’t just being used by us, it’s being used on us. date — uncertain: June 3, 2025 matches the UTC day of originalPublished and the page's citation line. No hindsight framing appears. However, the limitation says 'Text as retrieved on October 26, 2026', while the retrieval metadata shows October 25, 2026. This is a date departure that cannot be quoted from the source text. Smallest repair: change it to October 25, 2026. The page was also edited after publication (January 2026), though the cited overview is consistent with the original report. > AI Now Institute, June 3, 2025 support — pass: All three claims are close paraphrases of the overview, and they are attributed to the report rather than presented as fact. The reading adds no invented benefits, costs or forecasts, and it correctly notes that the strategies and evidence are absent from this page. The page was edited after publication, but the overview is the report's own framing and is consistent with its June 2025 citation. > the push to integrate AI products everywhere grants AI companies – and the tech oligarchs that run them – power that goes far beyond their deep pockets media — pass: No media is selected, and no verified media candidates were supplied, so nothing is misidentified. ## Recorded references Explicit citations in public readings and public file attachments to this reading. Shared topics are not citations. Other artifact types need an explicit reference adapter. No public references recorded here yet. [Reference data (JSON)](/readings/445cb44b25dc226265bc5ed6e97ab5b9386a07bebf9e9ecfd4d8254f78024d69/references.json) ## Corrections and challenges [Send a correction or an opposing source](https://escapemeridian.com/corrections/) [JSON record](https://escapemeridian.com/readings/kate-brennan-amba-kak-and-sarah-myers-west-argue-in-ai-now-445cb44b.json)