I think the idea is, yes, you could control what OpenAI/Meta/Google do, if you could organize at large enough scale. We still live in a democracy, and if the will of enough of the people was to ban or regulate AI, that would happen.
Of course, internet-raging is easier than actually organizing enough political will to influence a legislature, so that's what people do instead. Same for the boycott-Walmart argument; if enough people did it, it would push Walmart to change their ways, but organizing that is hard, and so they do what they think is their part and get self-satisfaction from that and stop there.
Of course, internet-raging is easier than actually organizing enough political will to influence a legislature, so that's what people do instead. Same for the boycott-Walmart argument; if enough people did it, it would push Walmart to change their ways, but organizing that is hard, and so they do what they think is their part and get self-satisfaction from that and stop there.