A more charitable interpretation might be that a guild would not be expected to passively allow such a situation to continue to exist. I think you'd expect a guild to directly contract for the desired tools or failing that to move into production themselves.
Regulatory capture: A vendor using regulation to prevent potential competitors from producing or selling competitive goods or services
What we're discussing in this thread: A customer compelling a vendor to produce and sell a specific good or service
Do you think these are similar?
The fact that Anthropic is doing one thing (regulatory capture) is entirely irrelevant as to whether they're allowed to engage in a completely different thing (declining to sell their services/products to specific people).
> Additionally, even if there is a guild - no guild ever let a vendor pick and choose what [the guild's] capabilities were, that would be insanely dumb.
But that's not true. Again: Vendors absolutely pick and choose what their customers' capabilities are. Regardless of whether "the guild allows them to." Guilds can't force people to make or sell tools against their will – obviously.
The analog you're trying to describe doesn't exist, which is Anthropic saying nobody else can make and sell an offensive model to "the guild."
No. Customers have never been able to compel their suppliers to make or sell certain products against their will (except in collectivist regimes or like 0.00001% of natsec related instances)
This conversation gets more and more bizarre, but I’ll bite.
1) pharmaceutical companies are regularly compelled to produce specific pharmaceuticals to continue to be allowed to exist.
2) hospitals are regularly compelled to treat patients even if they can’t afford treatment, if it is a life threatening emergency.
3) car manufacturers are always compelled to produce vehicles that meet a litany of safety, weight, and efficiency standards or they can’t produce at all.
4) defense contractors are regularly compelled to produce specific defense related products for long periods of time after they would otherwise have stopped, or else.
5) even your neighborhood gas station is likely compelled to provide air refills, free or at minimal cost, or else.
6) during a wartime (command) economy, which has happened numerous times in the US alone in the last 100 years, companies have to make what their customers (the people of the United States) demand or else.
7) utilities like electric utilities regularly have to give out freebies or take losses on things as demanded by regulators, at customers behest.
Or if we go back a bit, blacksmiths, quarries, masons, etc. all had to deal with producing what the government/lord at the time wanted - often on penalty of death - during wartime, or just because they were ordered to do so.
4) The US government can compel production, but it's extremely rare
5) Not by their customers they're not, lol
6) Yep this can happen, but is extremely unusual
7) Not by their customers they're not, lol
We're illustrating how ridiculous your claim that "guilds have always been able to declare what vendors create for them" is
Now you're talking about government regulations for some reason. Even your examples of customers being able to compel production are actually examples of governments being able to compel production, and in just a few of these scenarios the government is the customer. But it's their power as governments, not their power as customers that can compel production.
As stated: you've lost the thread. You're talking about totally irrelevant stuff.
And regulations are totally not written by people elected to do so - by their customers? And many of those, the customer is the gov’t and literally doing so?
