The astonishing story of the people fighting to control the future of generative artificial intelligence – and, therefore, the future of humanity. From award-winning journalist Parmy Olson.

Two titans of Silicon Valley, Microsoft and Google, rushed to embrace artificial intelligence. Microsoft entered a strategic partnership with OpenAI, creator of ChatGPT. Google acquired DeepMind. Together, they now had the resources of the two leading AI companies in the world – and, with it, the potential for unlimited riches.

But what is the cost of this arms race?
Who will win out between Demis Hassabis (Google DeepMind) and Sam Altman (Open AI)?
And, as we outsource ever more to this technology, what will be left for humans to do?

Featuring a cast of larger-than-life characters, from Elon Musk and Peter Thiel to Mark Zuckerberg and Sergey Brin, Supremacy is a story of ambition, exploitation and secrecy, as gripping as any thriller.

With exclusive access to sources at the top of the industry, Supremacy is your essential guide to the history – and the future – of the greatest invention of our time.

‘Astonishing’ – Financial Times
‘A compelling warning’ – The Times
‘A riveting tale . . . Olson is a compelling storyteller’ – New Scientist

‘A clear and compelling read about one of the most consequential races in the world’ – Madhumita Murgia, bestselling author of Code Dependent and AI Editor for The Financial Times

Discover the never-before-told story of the ruthless shadow race between Microsoft and Google, as both compete to develop a mass-market AI while juggling existential questions of ethics, human progress and the future of the world as we know it.

“They declined his offer too, not realizing how much the thin-skinned Musk didn’t like it when people said no. Soon enough though, Hassabis got another email. This time, it was from Google.”

When ChatGPT was released, the world changed overnight. Even as we all played with the new toy, a very real danger was quickly coming to light: that untested automations would undermine our way of life insidiously, sucking value out of our economy, replacing high-level creative jobs and enabling a new, terrifying era of disinformation.

It was never meant to be this way. The founders of the two companies behind the most advanced AIs in existence – Open AI (ChatGPT) and DeepMind (Bard) – started their journeys determined to solve humanity’s greatest problems. But they couldn’t develop their technologies without huge amounts of money – money that Microsoft and Google were more than happy to give them, in exchange for the most powerful seats at the table.

From award-winning journalist Parmy Olson, Supremacy is the astonishing, untold, behind-the-scenes story of the battle between two AI companies, their struggles to use their tech for good, and the dangerous direction that they’re now going in. Featuring a cast of larger-than-life characters, including Elon Musk, Larry Page, Sergey Brin and Peter Thiel, Supremacy is a story of manipulation, exploitation, secrecy and of ruthless, relentless human progress – progress that will impact all of us for years to come.

‘Makes the topic of AI approachable and entertaining by telling the human stories of the people building AI companies. There is never a dull moment in this gripping book’ – Arvind Narayanan, Professor of Computer Science at Princeton University

‘Money, power, and a bargain that may change the world frame this timely and deeply researched account of two of the biggest players in the race to AI’ – Gary Marcus, author of Taming Silicon Valley and Professor Emeritus at New York University