Meta has classified its AI data centers as experimental facilities to qualify for federal research tax credits. The company’s own accountants warned that the approach is legally risky, yet the projected savings have ballooned from $700 million in 2023 to $3.9 billion in 2025.

With a market valuation of $1.8 trillion, Meta’s primary obligations remain profit generation, share‑price optimisation, and cost containment—priorities that inevitably shape its approach to emerging technologies.

In the same climate, OpenAI announced that it is shelving its newest model because it failed to satisfy internal safety thresholds, while Anthropic’s CEO cautioned that within a year AI could orchestrate a swarm of agents capable of commandeering the internet.

President Trump, after meeting tech CEOs, praised industry self‑regulation and dismissed runaway‑AI fears as a “hoax.”

Compounding the risk, key government agencies have been hollowed out: the FBI’s cyber and counter‑intelligence ranks have been thinned, the Pentagon has lost at least 25 senior leaders, the Justice Department has recorded more than 10,000 departures, FEMA endures deep staffing and budget cuts, and the CDC’s civil‑service workforce fell 30 percent—from roughly 12,700 employees to fewer than 8,900—between March 2025 and mid‑2026.

The convergence of profit‑driven self‑regulation and a depleted public‑sector response creates a perfect storm for AI safety. Without robust, external oversight, corporations face little incentive to delay lucrative releases, and a weakened governmental apparatus lacks the capacity to intervene before a malfunction cascades across critical infrastructure.