When historians look back on the past few weeks in terms of Big Tech, artificial intelligence and politics, they might just mark it as a moment when the general public grew tired of boundless tech optimism and incredibly sensitive executives.

More broadly, especially regarding Big Tech and AI, society might have collectively witnessed a series of "jump the shark" incidents.

For those younger readers out there who might not be familiar with that phrase, I'm referring to the moment on the once hit US sitcom, Happy Days, when the character known as Fonzie had to use jet skis and jump over shark tank to prove himself.

Many argued that the scenario was too fanciful for the sitcom and led to its eventual ratings demise. In turn, the phrase, "jump the shark" has been used to describe any sort of significant happening that changes the public's mindset.

In this writer's opinion, the technology sector and the leaders of the sector jumped the shark on several occasions recently.

Last week, the high-flying and increasingly powerful OpenAI invited a firestorm when chief financial officer Sarah Friar seemed to imply that the US government should be open to the idea of providing a "backstop" for its financing.

For many in the US still hurting from inflation, stagnant wages and an increasing threat of layoffs due to AI advancements, the sheer thought of the government providing a backstop to an already flush-with-cash OpenAI prompted thoughts of rage.

OpenAI's chief financial officer later took to the LinkedIn social media platform to try to say that her words had been taken out of context, only for many commenters to respond that even with context, they were still ill conceived.

The company's chief executive Sam Altman, one of the most prominent figures in the AI world and someone known for having boundless enthusiasm for the sector, finally stepped in to try to quell the anger.

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