OpenAI’s Government Guarantee? Let’s Think About the Hidden Meaning.

Power in the 21st century is shifting in ways that are almost invisible. In the past, the state stood at the center of authority — it made laws, collected taxes, monopolized military force, and controlled the lives of its citizens. But today, that role is increasingly being assumed by corporations. Giants such as Google, Microsoft, Meta, OpenAI, and Alibaba are no longer mere private companies. They already manage the world’s information and data, and they influence people’s language, thought, and behavior patterns. Through the internet and artificial intelligence, they effectively operate the decision-making systems of humanity itself. This is not just a matter of technological innovation; it signals a deeper migration of power. Where once nations ruled the world, now the entities that command data and AI are taking that place.

These corporations are not simply offering services — they are absorbing one state function after another. They create payment systems that substitute for currencies, control information distribution and censorship, and use AI to perform administrative decisions once handled by governments. The cloud operates like a national data center, and AI algorithms act as policies that quietly shape human choices. Within their own ecosystems, these companies now manage the equivalent of entire economies, legal frameworks, education systems, and security networks. In substance, they are already performing the functions of states. The only difference is that they have no borders. Google’s or Meta’s influence doesn’t stop at a nation’s edge; their “territory” is the internet itself, and their “citizens” are everyone who uses their platforms.

Into this landscape enters a new concept: Physical AI. This refers not to AI that merely analyzes data or generates text, but to AI that acts directly in the physical world. It includes robots, drones, autonomous vehicles, and automated production systems. If traditional military power was measured in tanks, missiles, and soldiers, modern power is measured in computing capacity, autonomous systems, and network reach. Once AI can act on the real world, it becomes a new kind of military force. Companies such as Anduril and Palantir in the United States are already playing key roles in autonomous weapons, surveillance, and battlefield analytics. These firms are no longer supporting national defense from the sidelines — they are becoming an integral part of it.

As this trend accelerates, the meaning of “national military power” will fundamentally change. It will no longer be determined by the size of a defense budget or the number of troops, but by how fast and precisely an AI infrastructure can execute physical commands. The ability to control Physical AI will define power in the real world, and that power will determine not only corporate hierarchy but also the global order itself. The old rivalry between the United States and China is giving way to a new digital conflict — one fought among super-corporations such as OpenAI, Meta, Google, and Alibaba.

This transformation is not only military but political. Governments are gradually realizing that they can no longer control these transnational corporations with traditional laws or regulatory frameworks. As a result, they are turning from regulators into shareholders. The state is becoming an investor rather than a tax collector. The U.S. government has directly funded Intel and quantum computing firms; Japan has taken equity stakes in its semiconductor company Rapidus; and the European Union has launched an “AI Sovereignty Fund” to invest in key tech enterprises. If a government cannot control a company through legislation, it seeks to influence it through ownership. This represents a new form of governance — “from regulation to equity, from law to capital.”

The role of the state now resembles that of an investment institution. Citizens are not only taxpayers but also platform users. People pay subscriptions instead of taxes, express opinions through feedback instead of votes, and interact with AI systems instead of bureaucrats. To maintain influence, governments buy stakes in corporations, but in doing so, they begin to merge with them. Politics is being transformed into finance, and policymaking is increasingly dictated not by law but by data flows and algorithmic updates.

Corporations, in turn, are evolving into fully fledged digital nations. Users become citizens; the provision of data becomes taxation; and algorithms become constitutions. Each major platform already possesses its own currency (tokens or credits), administrative system (API and cloud networks), diplomacy (inter-platform alliances), and military (Physical AI). The terms of service we agree to every day are effectively their constitutions, and software updates function as constitutional amendments. The traditional border disappears — the cloud becomes the new territory.

In this structure, Physical AI becomes even more crucial. Corporate power is no longer defined by market capitalization or product innovation but by its capacity to act in the real world. The more an AI can physically intervene, the more influence the company gains. Power is now measured by how much GPU capacity and computing infrastructure a firm possesses, how effectively it controls robots and autonomous systems, how far its network and API ecosystems extend, and how deeply users trust its systems. These factors collectively define digital military strength, and in the future, corporate hierarchy will be determined by this Physical AI capability.

Thus, future competition will no longer be between nations but between platforms. OpenAI and Microsoft represent an “information-state model,” merging AI with defense. Google builds an “industrial-state model” centered on robotics and infrastructure. Meta constructs a “social-state model” based on virtual identity and networks. Alibaba and Tencent are building “real-economy states” integrating finance, logistics, and data. These platform-states are vying for digital supremacy, while governments now exist inside their ecosystems as majority shareholders or strategic partners.

Within this context, OpenAI’s recent reference to possible U.S. government guarantees was deeply symbolic. It was not simply a financial request; it was an attempt to pull national capital directly into the corporate structure. By defining AI infrastructure as a strategic national asset and having the government share private risk, OpenAI revealed the blueprint for a new power system. Once the state becomes a shareholder, it ceases to regulate from above — it participates from within. The state becomes more corporate, while the corporation becomes more sovereign.

We are thus living in an age of the financialization of sovereignty. Sovereignty is no longer produced by the will of the people but by the flow of capital and the architecture of data. Subscriptions replace taxes, usage patterns substitute for votes, and algorithms take the place of constitutions. Military power lies in Physical AI, currency in stablecoins, and citizenship in platform accounts. The symbol of the nation is no longer the flag, but the server.

In conclusion, the rise of artificial intelligence is not merely a technological phenomenon — it is a reorganization of power itself. Corporations are becoming world-states; governments are turning into their major shareholders; and Physical AI is emerging as the military force that sustains this system. Future hegemony will not be determined under national flags but by computing capacity, robotic autonomy, data integrity, and algorithmic reach. Users become citizens, subscriptions become taxes, updates become laws, and AI becomes the ruler.

The empire of the 21st century is governed by code, and its army is made of Physical AI.

From an investment perspective, this shift carries profound implications. When a nation becomes a major shareholder in a company, that company’s success is no longer optional — it is essential. Its failure would signify not just corporate collapse but national and even societal failure. This is why such enterprises become effectively “too strategic to fail.” In the AI era, this logic will persist as an unspoken truth. The corporations backed directly or indirectly by the U.S. government are, in a sense, extensions of state power. Their growth is intertwined with the future of the nation, its citizens, and its investors alike.

At K3 Lab, we watch these developments closely. Certain companies — the technological and geopolitical anchors of this new system — deserve long-term attention, not for quarters but for decades. Investing in them is no longer a simple financial act; it is a participation in the formation of a new kind of state — the fusion of technology, capital, and governance that will define the civilization of the 21st century.