IFP Essay: An ARPANET-Style Program Could Unlock a Million Times More Data for AI

iamtrask · x · 2026-09-14

Andrew Trask and Lacey Strahm's IFP essay argues "peak data" is a misreading: disclosed model training sets are only a few hundred terabytes, while the world has digitized an estimated 180–200 zettabytes — over a million times more. The real crisis is misaligned incentives between data owners and AI companies. Their solution combines model partitioning and privacy infrastructure so data can train models without leaving its owner, plus policy recommendations for an ARPANET-style national program to unlock data access at scale.

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