Ripple CTO Emeritus: AI Safety Rules and Copyright Laws Pose Threat to Free Speech

David Schwartz, Ripple’s CTO emeritus, has warned that government rules around AI safety and copyright could give authorities unprecedented control over political and social speech.

His argument centers on who gets to decide what AI systems can create, know, and discuss.

Two Legal Fights, One Argument

Schwartz laid out the case in a reply thread on X that started almost by accident. On August 18, he quote-posted a Change.org UK campaign asking the British government to limit how much coverage any one person can receive in the press, a petition launched after 249 articles covered sociology professor Jason Arday in the 22 days before his death on August 14.

Schwartz’s response to that campaign was a question: which poses more of a threat to free speech, artificial intelligence or, as he put it, natural stupidity.

When a user named Athena asked what he actually meant, Schwartz explained that AI has become the most effective tool for producing speech that exists, and that governments are currently fighting on multiple fronts over how much they can regulate it.

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