AI labs' extinction rhetoric vs. reality: why base in California where non-competes are unenforceable?
NathanpmYoung · x · 2026-09-18
Engineer Su Shenzang asks: if frontier AI labs' IP is truly so precious and existentially high-stakes, why are they still based in California, where non-competes can't be enforced? She describes Bay Area talent hopping between companies "like headless chickens" with "headless alpha" leaking everywhere.
NathanpmYoung guesses it's because staff matter too, and no single person can steal a non-negligible share of the IP.
A pointed industry debate on the gap between doom rhetoric and actual talent-retention practice at frontier labs.
Related event: If AI IP Is Existential, Why Do Labs Stay in Non-Compete-Free California?(4 posts)→
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