Hours after President Joe Biden announced that he would be dropping out of the 2024 presidential race, Democratic megadonors in Silicon Valley were already lining up to support Vice President Kamala Harris at the top of their party’s ticket. “This is what’s right for our country—and our democratic future,” wrote …
Read More »Silicon Valley's Plutocrats Flip for Trump—to Save Their Billions
What potential national disaster—one that threatens to destroy the United States—keeps you awake at night? For some it might be the climate crisis, as record heat and storms show us that the clock is approaching midnight on saving the Earth. Others are distressed by the precarious state of our democracy. …
Read More »Silicon Valley Heavyweights, Including Elon Musk, Rally Behind J.D. Vance VP Pick
Republican figureheads from Silicon Valley are rallying behind former president Donald Trump’s selection of Ohio senator J.D. Vance as his running mate. Top Silicon Valley leaders like Elon Musk came out in support of Vance as Trump’s vice presidential pick in the hours after the official announcement was made on …
Read More »J.D. Vance Is Trump’s Pick for Vice President
On Monday, former president and current Republican nominee for president Donald Trump officially named senator J.D. Vance of Ohio as his pick for vice president and running mate. “After lengthy deliberation and thought, and considering the tremendous talents of many others, I have decided that the person best suited to …
Read More »Silicon Valley Hasn’t Embraced Trump. But It’s Wavering on Biden
The supposed Silicon Valley revolt happened even before the disastrous presidential debate. “The Blue Wall of tech is crumbling before our very eyes,” Ryan Selkis, the founder and CEO of Messari crypto, wrote on X last month. He was referencing a then-upcoming event: Just days after Donald Trump was convicted …
Read More »Reid Hoffman Hasn't Given Up on Biden Just Yet
Hey, everyone! It’s Makena. I’m back after a charming getaway to the Adirondacks. A lot has happened since I’ve been gone. Namely, what the heck is happening with Joe Biden and the Democratic nomination? Luckily, I spoke with Reid Hoffman, LinkedIn cofounder and Democratic mega-donor about Biden and whether Silicon …
Read More »AI Is Coming for Big Tech Jobs—but Not in the Way You Think
Aaron Damigos’ inbox was hit with a dreaded, ubiquitous business-update calendar invite on June 3. The meeting included someone from HR, his manager, and upper management—and ultimately resulted in the sudden end to his job as a web support associate with Microsoft. Microsoft reportedly laid off some 1,000 people in …
Read More »OpenAI-Backed Nonprofits Have Gone Back on Their Transparency Pledges
A Sam Altman–funded nonprofit studying the effects of giving monthly checks of up to $1,000 to lower-income households in the US espouses transparency in its operations. “We aim to share data, findings, and insights widely,” OpenResearch says on its website, which describes its work as a “public good.” But like …
Read More »Don’t Let Mistrust of Tech Companies Blind You to the Power of AI
It seems evident to me that almost 70 years after the first conference on artificial intelligence—where the nascent field’s leaders suggested the task would be completed within a decade—the field is now poised to make a transformational impact on our lives. We don’t need to reach artificial general intelligence, or …
Read More »Marc Andreessen Once Called Online Safety Teams an Enemy. He Still Wants Walled Gardens for Kids
In his polarizing “Techno-Optimist Manifesto” last year, venture capitalist Marc Andreessen listed a number of enemies to technological progress. Among them were “tech ethics” and “trust and safety,” a term used for work on online content moderation, which he said had been used to subject humanity to “a mass demoralization …
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