President William Ruto recently remarked that he had met “the owner of AI.” The statement quickly sparked debate, but it also raises an important question: Can anyone actually own Artificial Intelligence?
The answer is straightforward: No.
Artificial Intelligence is not a single product or company. It is a broad field of computer science and technology, much like the internet. Just as no one owns the internet itself, no individual, corporation, or country owns AI.
What companies do own are the AI systems, models, and platforms they build.
For instance, OpenAI developed ChatGPT, Google created Gemini, Anthropic built Claude, Meta developed Llama, and xAI created Grok. These organizations own their respective products, intellectual property, and technologies – not Artificial Intelligence as a whole.
If President Ruto was referring to Sam Altman, then the more accurate statement would have been that he met the CEO of OpenAI, one of the world’s leading AI companies, rather than “the owner of AI.”
This may seem like a minor distinction, but precision in language matters – especially when discussing technologies that are transforming economies, governments, businesses, and everyday life.
Artificial Intelligence is one of the defining technologies of our era. As conversations around AI become more common, public leaders, policymakers, journalists, and citizens alike have a responsibility to use accurate terminology. Clear language promotes better understanding, informed debate, and sound decision-making in a field that will shape the future for generations to come.