This chapter introduces GenAIuflecting: the reflexive, undemocratic ceding of power and policy to AI companies based on extraordinary, often speculative claims. It argues that this deference is a pattern – from the government uncritically accepting fictional job creation figures to granting major contracts and privileges, such as offering an enterprise AI system to the entire US government for one dollar per agency. At the core of this pattern is AI illiteracy among policymakers and the resulting belief in GenAI exceptionalism, the idea that generative AI (GenAI) deserves special treatment not granted to other industries or even human creators.

The text details how GenAIuflecting manifests across four critical domains: environmental, safety, security, and intellectual property. The chapter concludes by highlighting the dangerous self-reinforcing cycle of concessions, warning that this dynamic is not inevitable but a set of choices serving powerful interests at the expense of workers, creators, communities, and citizens’ safety.

This chapter provides two practical frameworks for navigating the pervasive hype surrounding generative AI (GenAI). The first is a consumer handbook for critically reading AI-related news and press releases, urging skepticism toward unsubstantiated skill claims, proprietary benchmark scores, and “demo-ware,” while prioritizing independent third-party review. The second framework introduces “GenAIuflecting” – the unwarranted deference governments show to AI companies – and offers practical tests (the evidence, substitution, beneficiary, accountability, and precedent tests) to identify and resist policy proposals that favor corporate profit over public interest. Ultimately, the chapter argues that the true stakes are not winning an “AI race,” but securing democratic control over technology’s role in society.