The Ai Matrix: Profits, Power, Politics

Artificial intelligence (AI) is heralded as a revolutionary force in the global economy. But the transformation it brings is not simply about new technology as a driver of change. It is about who owns it, what they want to do with it, who can pay for it, and how other economic actors around the world – from legacy manufacturing firms in the Global North to farmers in the Global South – must adjust.


This book explores AI systems as products of unequal and conflictual power relations. It exposes grand AI narratives as rhetorical ammunition in political fights over tech futures and socio-economic distribution. Tech giants leverage infrastructure and data to cement their global dominance. Meanwhile, geopolitical competition between China and the United States increasingly dominates the AI economy, entrenching globe-spanning dependencies. The AI Matrix is an essential guide to the real-world economic dynamics that AI unleashes.

Daniel Mügge is Professor of Political Arithmetic in the political science department of the University of Amsterdam.

Regine Paul is Professor of Political Science at the University of Bergen, Norway.

Vali Stan is a research assistant at University College London.