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You’re standing in your kitchen, phone in hand, asking ChatGPT what to make for dinner. The AI suggests grilled chicken with roasted vegetables. Helpful. Convenient. Then it asks: “Would you like me to add those ingredients to your Walmart cart?”
One tap. That’s all it takes. The chicken breast, bell peppers, olive oil appear in your cart automatically. Another tap confirms the order. Twenty minutes later, they’re on their way to your door. You never opened Walmart’s app. Never searched for products. Never made a single independent decision about brands, quantities, or alternatives.
ChatGPT decided everything.
And OpenAI just recorded your entire dinner planning process, your dietary preferences, your household size, your budget constraints, your shopping patterns, and your decision-making vulnerabilities. Microsoft (OpenAI’s primary investor and infrastructure provider) now has this data flowing through Azure’s surveillance infrastructure. Walmart has your purchasing behavior. Your convenience just cost you your agency.
This isn’t hypothetical. This is Walmart and OpenAI’s October 2025 partnership creating “AI-first shopping experiences” where conversation replaces search, and algorithms replace human choice.
Meanwhile, Oracle just acquired roughly 50% of TikTok’s U.S. operations for $14 billion. Congratulations: China doesn’t own your scrolling habits anymore. Now an American AI cloud computing giant that already sells your data to corporations does. Did you really win?
The pattern is clear. AI giants are actively consuming every part of your online life with minimal regulatory guardrails. Shopping. Social media. Entertainment. Communication. Each convenience you accept surrenders another piece of your autonomy to systems designed to exploit you for profit.
Scripture warned about this 3,000 years ago.
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There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. - Proverbs 14:12 (KJV)
The prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished. - Proverbs 22:3 (KJV)
Solomon wrote Proverbs as wisdom instruction for navigating a world filled with appealing but destructive paths. The book repeatedly contrasts the wise person who exercises discernment with the simple person who accepts whatever seems convenient. The Hebrew word peti (פֶּתִי) describes this “simple” person: open to any influence, lacking critical judgment, vulnerable to manipulation because they never evaluate the real cost of apparent benefits.
The Walmart-OpenAI partnership embodies this pattern perfectly. The arrangement seems brilliant: faster shopping, personalized recommendations, seamless purchasing. Who wouldn’t want dinner planning and grocery ordering handled in one conversation?
But what’s the actual cost?
Every conversation with ChatGPT about shopping becomes training data for OpenAI’s systems. Your preferences, budget constraints, dietary needs, household composition, decision-making patterns—all recorded and analyzed. Microsoft’s Azure infrastructure processes this data through telemetry systems that feed surveillance capitalism’s hunger for behavioral prediction.
Walmart CEO Doug McMillon described this partnership as moving “away from traditional search bars to a multimedia, personalized, and contextual AI shopping experience.” Translation: We’re replacing your independent product research with algorithmic recommendation that serves our profit margins, not your actual needs.
You think you’re getting convenience. You’re actually surrendering the ability to make independent purchasing decisions. The AI won’t show you the cheaper store brand. It won’t suggest you skip the processed food. It won’t recommend you save money by cooking from scratch. It optimizes for Walmart’s revenue per transaction, not your flourishing.
This is exactly what Proverbs 14:12 warns against: “a way which seemeth right” that leads to death. Not physical death necessarily, but death of agency, wisdom, and human dignity. When you outsource basic life decisions to profit-maximizing algorithms, you’re trading your image-bearing capacity for minimal convenience.
And you need to switch to Protonmail sooner then later.
The Oracle-TikTok deal reveals the same pattern with different branding.
For years, Americans worried about TikTok sending user data to the Chinese government. Valid concern. ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, operated under Chinese law requiring cooperation with state intelligence services. Your scrolling habits, location data, device information, and behavioral patterns potentially accessible to hostile foreign power.
So Oracle stepped in with Silver Lake and Abu Dhabi’s MGX to “save” TikTok through a $14 billion deal. The new structure: Oracle provides “security oversight,” manages algorithm retraining using U.S. data, and ensures data protection for American users. ByteDance retains less than 20% ownership. A majority American board oversees operations. Problem solved, right?
Wrong.
Oracle already runs one of the largest data brokerage and cloud computing operations in the world. They don’t just store corporate data; they actively monetize user information through their cloud services. Their business model depends on collecting, analyzing, and selling behavioral data to the highest bidder.
Now they control the algorithm that 170 million Americans scroll through for hours daily. They manage the “retraining” of TikTok’s recommendation system using U.S. user data. They provide “security oversight” over one of the most addictive platforms ever created.
You didn’t escape surveillance. You just changed who profits from it.
The Hebrew word binah (בִּינָה) means discernment or understanding. It describes the ability to see beneath surface appearances to underlying reality. Proverbs repeatedly commands this kind of discernment, warning that those who lack it will be consumed by predators.
Americans celebrating Oracle’s TikTok acquisition lack binah. They see “American ownership” and assume safety. They miss that Oracle’s business model requires exploiting user data just like ByteDance’s did. The surveillance continues; only the recipient changed.
Why Joshua's household leadership command requires DNS-level protection decisions
The WISE Framework provides four diagnostic questions for evaluating any technology through biblical wisdom:
W - Worship: Does this technology encourage or hinder your relationship with God?
I - Image: Does this technology honor human dignity as image-bearers?
S - Service: Does this technology serve human flourishing and the common good?
E - Eternity: Does this technology align with God’s ultimate purposes?
Both the Walmart-OpenAI partnership and the Oracle-TikTok deal fail spectacularly on the Service criterion.
Does ChatGPT shopping serve your flourishing? No. It serves Walmart’s revenue optimization by eliminating your comparative research and independent decision-making. You get minimal convenience (saving perhaps three minutes per shopping trip) in exchange for surrendering purchasing autonomy and submitting your household needs to algorithmic exploitation.
Does Oracle’s TikTok oversight serve the common good? No. It serves Oracle’s profit maximization by giving them unprecedented access to behavioral data from 170 million Americans. You get continued access to an addictive platform in exchange for submitting your attention patterns and psychological vulnerabilities to corporate surveillance.
The consistent pattern: innovation that appears to serve you actually serves corporate profit through systematic exploitation of human vulnerability.
This is what the Service element of the WISE Framework forces you to evaluate. Does this technology genuinely benefit humanity? Or does it primarily extract value through exploitation while providing minimal convenience as cover?
Scripture provides the standard. The Hebrew word tov (טוֹב) means “good” in the sense of beneficial, promoting wellbeing, aligned with God’s design for flourishing. God declared creation tov because it genuinely served the purposes He intended. Technologies claiming to serve you must meet this standard: Do they actually promote your flourishing according to God’s design? Or do they exploit your vulnerabilities for someone else’s profit?
Walmart-OpenAI fails this test. The partnership serves corporate profit through user exploitation more than it serves user flourishing. The convenience offered is real but minor compared to the agency surrendered and surveillance enabled.
Oracle-TikTok fails this test. The deal serves continued data exploitation by swapping one surveillance system for another. Americans retain platform access while Oracle gains unprecedented behavioral data access. The surveillance capitalism continues; only the profiteer changed.
Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding. - Proverbs 23:23 (KJV)
A prudent man concealeth knowledge: but the heart of fools proclaimeth foolishness. - Proverbs 12:23 (KJV)
Proverbs commands believers to “buy the truth” at any cost while guarding it carefully. This applies directly to resisting exploitative technology.
The truth about Walmart-OpenAI: This partnership doesn’t serve your flourishing. It serves corporate profit through systematic elimination of your purchasing autonomy. The convenience is minimal; the cost is your agency as an image-bearer making wise stewardship decisions.
The truth about Oracle-TikTok: This deal doesn’t protect you from surveillance. It redirects surveillance profits from China to American corporations. The data exploitation continues; only the business model shifted.
Biblical faithfulness requires seeing these arrangements clearly and responding accordingly.
For the Walmart-OpenAI shopping integration: Don’t use it. Make your own grocery lists. Research products independently. Compare prices. Choose brands based on your evaluation, not algorithmic recommendation. The three minutes you “save” cost your capacity for wise stewardship and independent judgment.
For Oracle-TikTok: Recognize that American ownership doesn’t equal user protection. Oracle’s business model requires exploiting your behavioral data just like ByteDance’s did. If the surveillance troubled you when China profited, it should trouble you when Oracle profits. The platform remains designed for addiction and exploitation regardless of ownership structure.
The broader pattern demands systematic response: Every time AI giants offer you convenience, evaluate what you’re actually surrendering. Agency? Privacy? Decision-making capacity? Formation of wisdom through practice?
Most “innovations” in contemporary technology primarily serve corporate profit through user exploitation, not genuine human flourishing. The convenience they offer is real but minor. The formation they steal is massive.
Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. - Proverbs 22:6 (KJV)
The Walmart-OpenAI partnership doesn’t just affect you. It trains the next generation that independent decision-making is obsolete. Why research products when AI decides for you? Why compare prices when algorithms optimize for speed? Why develop judgment when convenience is always one tap away?
Children raised in this environment never learn to exercise discernment about purchases. They never develop the muscle of evaluating alternatives, considering trade-offs, or making decisions based on values rather than algorithmic recommendation.
The Hebrew word chanakh (חָנַךְ) translated “train up” means to dedicate, initiate, or discipline toward a specific purpose. But discipleship happens regardless of parental intention. Your children are being formed constantly. The question isn’t whether they’re being trained but by whom and toward what end.
When AI handles their shopping decisions, they’re being trained in dependence on algorithmic authority rather than developing their own wisdom. They’re learning that convenience trumps judgment, that speed matters more than discernment, that outsourcing decisions to profit-maximizing systems is normal rather than spiritually dangerous.
This formation happens silently, through repeated small surrenders. Each time ChatGPT decides what products to buy, your children learn that human judgment is obsolete. Each time TikTok’s algorithm determines what they watch, they’re trained to trust corporate curation over their own discernment.
The stakes are their capacity for wisdom itself.
Oracle buying TikTok. Walmart partnering with OpenAI. AI giants actively consuming every part of your online habits with minimal regulation.
Guardrails? Gone. Privacy protections? Obliterated. User agency? Systematically eliminated in exchange for minimal convenience.
You need to see what’s actually happening. This isn’t about Chinese ownership versus American ownership. It’s about whether you’ll surrender your God-given capacity for wisdom, discernment, and independent judgment to systems designed to exploit you for profit.
Proverbs offers clear guidance: “The simple believeth every word: but the prudent man looketh well to his going.” (Proverbs 14:15, KJV)
The simple person accepts every innovation without evaluation. The prudent person examines where these paths actually lead.
Walmart-OpenAI leads to purchasing dependence on algorithmic authority.
Oracle-TikTok leads to continued surveillance with different profiteers.
Both lead away from the human flourishing God designed you for.
Be aware, friends. Your soul is worth more than the convenience they’re offering.
1. Personal Application: Which AI “conveniences” have you already accepted that actually surrender your decision-making capacity? What would it cost to reclaim that agency? What would you gain spiritually by exercising judgment rather than algorithmic dependence?
2. Community Discussion: How might your church community support one another in resisting exploitative innovation? What alternatives exist that genuinely serve human flourishing rather than corporate profit?
3. Spiritual Formation: When do you accept exploitation because everyone else does? How does participation in these systems affect your capacity for biblical discernment and your children’s formation in wisdom?
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