Mark Jamison argues that while governments today scrutinize large technology companies through antitrust enforcement, history suggests regulators often lack foresight about which innovations will prove transformative. He draws a parallel to 1956, when the U.S. Justice Department imposed antitrust restrictions on AT&T and IBM the same year the Dartmouth workshop introduced the field of artificial intelligence. Jamison contends that today’s seemingly dominant firms may also be helping create tomorrow’s technological possibilities, and that policymakers should recognize innovation frequently emerges from unexpected sources rather than simply targeting the successful companies of the present moment.
