Data, power, and industry converge into a single circuit, with ‘Design’ at its core. Hankook Ilbo Graphic

Contents

Prologue

Part 1. Philosophy and Structure: ‘The Administrative Constitution of Capitalism’

Chapter 1. The Trinity of Data, Power, and Industry

Chapter 2. The Constitution of the Stock Market: ‘The Era of ETFs and Passive Governance’

Chapter 3. The World’s Top Three Capital Systems: ‘The Separation of Powers by BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street’

Part 2. The Return of the State: ‘The Constitution of Industrial Sovereignty’

Chapter 4. Trump’s Return and Industrial Sovereignty 2.0

Chapter 5. The Constitution of Industrial Sovereignty: ‘Taking Responsibility for Design’

Part 3. Civilization and Records: ‘The Annotations of the Scribe’

Chapter 6. Scribe’s Annotations I: ‘Philosophical Annotations’

Chapter 7. Scribe’s Annotations II: ‘On-Site Report’

Epilogue

Author’s Profile

Appendices

A. Glossary of Core Concepts

B. Endnotes

C. Index

D. Bibliography

E. Abstract

Prologue

“AI is not a technology but a form of power.”

I truly realized this on November 2023, the day the acquisition of Westinghouse Electric Company, a US nuclear power company, was finalized. The deal, led by Brookfield and Cameco, was more than just an industrial investment; it was a moment when the philosophy of capital shifted.

On that day, nuclear power, previously sidelined under the name of ESG, was reclassified as ‘sustainable energy.’ Capital revised its own ethics. The era of technology was ending, and the era of design was beginning.

AI has become not a tool created by humans, but a System of Design that shapes human choices. Data became not fuel but power, and electricity became not production but governance. An era has dawned where AI replaces national policies, and capital writes the articles of the constitution.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) and the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) have forecast that data center electricity demand will be a core driver of global electricity consumption over the next decade. However, the more fundamental question was not ‘how much is used’ but ‘who distributes it.’ The Power Design Right has emerged as a bottleneck for civilization.

ESG, once the norm of the market, has now transformed into the language of ‘Energy Security’ and ‘Industrial Sovereignty.’

AI capitalism is not a progression of technology but a realignment of power. Data is the neural network of movement, and electricity is the blood flow that moves that network. And designing this interconnected structure is no longer solely the domain of the state. The market writes the constitution, capital holds executive power, and AI exercises legislative power.

Civilization is once again calling upon the state, this time not in the name of politics, but in the name of design.

Part 1. Philosophy and Structure: ‘The Administrative Constitution of Capitalism’

Chapter 1. The Trinity of Data, Power, and Industry

(The Trinity of Data, Power, and Industry)

Technology liberated humans, but AI designs human decisions.

While modern capitalism developed around ‘Production,’ AI capitalism is structured around ‘Design.’ This system is a grand trinity composed of three pillars: Data, Power, and Industry.

1. The End of Technology, The Beginning of Design

The technology of the 20th century replaced human labor, but the AI of the 21st century replaces human judgment.

Michel Foucault called this ‘Governmentality.’ Power is no longer oppression but management, and governance is not an art of control but a technique of design.

The philosopher Byung-Chul Han, who extended the theory of power beyond Foucault to ‘psychological and digital power,’ wrote in ‘The Transparency Society’ that “Information removes trust. A society without trust invents systems in place of institutions.” This statement accurately targets the essence of AI capitalism. AI is not a foundation of trust, but a system of governance built on the foundation of calculation.

Today, BlackRock’s ‘Aladdin’ system, OpenAI’s Large Language Models (LLM), and Google DeepMind’s predictive algorithms share a common characteristic: they design outcomes without asking for human input. This design is not merely a technical structure but is extending into the constitutional structure of civilization.

2. The Convergence of Data, Power, and Industry

AI does not consume electricity; it dominates power.

Data centers now consume more energy than military bases. According to an IEA report, AI computation is projected to drive more than 70% of the increase in power demand by 2030. This figure represents not technological advancement but a redistribution of sovereignty.

Data is the Nerve Network, Power is the Blood Flow, and Industry is the Body.

This trinity structure is the fundamental constitution of AI capitalism.

While past capitalism operated on the pillars of ‘Labor, Capital, and State,’ the new system functions through the cycle of ‘Data, Power, and Industry.’ The state, in between, acts as designer, manager, and sometimes, the ruled.

“He who designs the flow of power is the sovereign.”

This is no longer a metaphor. The code of power infrastructure, the paths of data, and the location of servers are becoming articles of the constitution.

3. The Transfer of Power: ‘From Control to Design’

Foucault’s power was a mechanism of Surveillance, but AI’s power is a mechanism of Design.

AI does not suppress human behavior. Instead, it pre-engineers a ‘Map of Possibility.’ Humans operate only within this map.

Thus, Control has disappeared, and Choice has been replaced by a designed illusion.

AI capitalism, instead of granting freedom, pre-programs choices. As a result, society believes it has become freer, but in reality, it is trapped within a more sophisticated, designed prison. This is the essence of the ‘Invisible Constitution.’

4. A Philosophical Redefinition of Industrial Sovereignty

Industrial Sovereignty is no longer a matter of borders.

It is a matter of the Right to Design.

The one who determines the design is the sovereign, not the one who possesses the technology.

In its 2024 agreement with BlackRock and Brookfield, the US Department of Energy stated, “Private Capital will build the state.” This means capital will construct the state. The direction of civilization is determined by the sovereignty of design, not technology.

The return of the state is not the nationalization of technology but the recovery of the right to design.

Next, Part 2. The Return of the State: The Constitution of Industrial Sovereignty will be published.

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