Larry Ellison, the billionaire CEO of Oracle, envisions a future where artificial intelligence (AI) is deeply embedded in a society of total surveillance, where privacy is nonexistent, and every movement of every citizen is tracked and recorded.
His company, Oracle, is set to play a pivotal role in the massive $500 billion AI project “Stargate,” launched by former President Trump, described as “by far the largest AI infrastructure project in history.”
Ellison, one of the wealthiest tech moguls globally, recently surpassed Jeff Bezos to become the second richest person in the world, trailing only Elon Musk. But beyond his wealth, his views on the future of AI raise troubling questions about the kind of world tech giants like him are shaping. In a conversation with analysts last year, Ellison painted a future that mirrors the darkest dystopian fiction, particularly drawing comparisons to George Orwell’s 1984, where surveillance is omnipresent, and citizens are constantly monitored.
Ellison predicts that AI will power real-time analysis of data from surveillance cameras, police body cams, car cameras, and even doorbell cameras. “Citizens will behave in the best way as we constantly record and report everything that happens,” he said, suggesting that AI will oversee every facet of public and private life. “Every police officer will be constantly monitored, and if a problem occurs, AI will report the problem and send it to the right person.”
His chilling vision goes further, with drones—controlled by AI—replacing human police officers during emergencies and crimes. Imagine a drone racing to a shopping mall, arriving long before a squad car, offering a faster, more efficient method of control, all under the ever-watchful eye of AI.
The response from critics has been swift. Ars Technica’s Benji Edwards warned that Ellison’s vision feels like a step toward a surveillance state. “Ellison’s vision bears more than a fleeting resemblance to George Orwell’s 1984,” Edwards noted, pointing out that Orwell’s concept of a government using “telescopes” to watch its citizens is now eerily mirrored by AI systems monitoring everything. “Big Brother” would no longer be a human figure but an automated AI that never sleeps.
Edwards also pointed to existing technologies, such as those already in use in China, where cities have implemented AI surveillance networks that monitor every movement. AI software now exists to sift through and organize data collected from these networks, raising alarms about the growing reach of surveillance. In countries like the U.S., such technologies may soon become commonplace, with analysts warning that the world is sliding dangerously toward a “digital dictatorship.” A society where “good behavior” means blind obedience to the whims of the tech oligarchs who control it all.
This creeping surveillance state could render privacy a distant memory, replaced by constant digital oversight. Critics are sounding the alarm, worried that this is the first step toward a world where we are all nothing more than slaves to the system, our every move and thought monitored by powerful AI and the billionaires who own it.
