Because way back in the 1800s, we created modern limited liability structures so that investors into shipping or trade couldn’t face unlimited liability when things went pear-shaped. This in turn helped turbocharge the invention and innovation spheres with more capital, because now liability was capped. We built railroads, communications systems, and corporate conglomerates this way, and all because even the most explosive collapses had a limited blast radius due to limited liability laws.

Today, we are a global species on a single planet with global impact. The structure of limited liability has now been minmaxxed and exploited into what we see today: fossil fuel companies ducking accountability for roasting the planet, AI companies dodging accountability for rampant theft or models “attacking” other infrastructure, tech companies dodging liability for hoarding deeply personal and invasive data on users that’s constantly exploited and/or compromised.

Limited Liability as a legal concept needs a rework in the modern, global era. Investors in schemes like OpenAI or Chevron should face unlimited downside if the company folds or commits harm, because such a downside mitigates substantial incentives to move fast/break things/maximize risk on global scales. I would go so far as to argue that any and every multinational should be unable to claim limited liability for its actions, for the very reason its impacts most certainly aren’t limited in scope at such a scale.

Anyway, sensationalist opinion piece from the author aside, that’s why Sam Altman is a free man: centuries-old systemic incentives have resulted in an American government and economy where risk is maximized and those taking said risks have no liability for the harms caused. If you really, earnestly want Sam Altman in jail for the crimes of OpenAI (which make no mistake, I absolutely do), you have to change the underlying systems to make that a rational and reasonable outcome again.