Alexandria's papyrus export ban as a metaphor: chip curbs won't stop AI proliferation
iamtrask · x · 2026-11-12
Reacting to news that Mike Johnson backs restricting US chip sales to China, iamtrask cites a historical parallel: the Library of Alexandria banned papyrus exports to beat a rival library in the great library race of the 3rd–4th centuries — yet libraries proliferated anyway. The implication: chip export controls are unlikely to halt the spread of compute and AI capability.
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