*Crossposting this comment from Morning Shots comments as it is directly related to today's pod episode...*
The discussions around the tech oligarchy support for Trump misses some important context. While tax cuts and frustration with lefty "woke" culture may play a role, it is important to understand how much deregulation of AI and Block…
*Crossposting this comment from Morning Shots comments as it is directly related to today's pod episode...*
The discussions around the tech oligarchy support for Trump misses some important context. While tax cuts and frustration with lefty "woke" culture may play a role, it is important to understand how much deregulation of AI and Blockchain (and by extension, crypto) plays into their decisions.
Marc Andreesen and his venture capital firm, Andreesen Horowitz (which has been described as a PR/Lobbying firm masquerading as a VC) have made massive investments in blockchain technology and crypto. Andreesen has given interviews in which he asserts that Web 3.0 will be based on blockchain (blockchain has uses outside of cryptocurrency, but crypto is the main driver of adoption). Additional massive investments are being made by Andreesen and other tech bro billionaires in AI technology. At the same time, they have openly called for a return to a robber baron economy -- when "makers" ruled and before the "managerial class" took over. Andreesen and Musk have compared themselves to Rockefeller and Morgan in interviews.
Trump was skeptical of crypto but is now fully on board and is even issuing his own currency. He has promised to replace Powell at the fed with a more crypto-friendly Chair. The government and agencies are just now struggling with how to regulate and put guardrails in place for AI adoption. Any regulation is an infringment on the goals of the tech ogliarchy. They've learned, just as Putin did on foreign policy, that Trump can be manipulated easily and provides the clearest path to unfettered power and money from these nascent technologies.
The historian and journalist Rick Perlstein described his invitation to a meal at the Andreesens in a way that seemed literary and cinematic to me in all the ways he showed what these people are like and what they might portend for the rest of us.
*Crossposting this comment from Morning Shots comments as it is directly related to today's pod episode...*
The discussions around the tech oligarchy support for Trump misses some important context. While tax cuts and frustration with lefty "woke" culture may play a role, it is important to understand how much deregulation of AI and Blockchain (and by extension, crypto) plays into their decisions.
Marc Andreesen and his venture capital firm, Andreesen Horowitz (which has been described as a PR/Lobbying firm masquerading as a VC) have made massive investments in blockchain technology and crypto. Andreesen has given interviews in which he asserts that Web 3.0 will be based on blockchain (blockchain has uses outside of cryptocurrency, but crypto is the main driver of adoption). Additional massive investments are being made by Andreesen and other tech bro billionaires in AI technology. At the same time, they have openly called for a return to a robber baron economy -- when "makers" ruled and before the "managerial class" took over. Andreesen and Musk have compared themselves to Rockefeller and Morgan in interviews.
Trump was skeptical of crypto but is now fully on board and is even issuing his own currency. He has promised to replace Powell at the fed with a more crypto-friendly Chair. The government and agencies are just now struggling with how to regulate and put guardrails in place for AI adoption. Any regulation is an infringment on the goals of the tech ogliarchy. They've learned, just as Putin did on foreign policy, that Trump can be manipulated easily and provides the clearest path to unfettered power and money from these nascent technologies.
https://prospect.org/power/2024-04-24-my-dinner-with-andreessen/
The historian and journalist Rick Perlstein described his invitation to a meal at the Andreesens in a way that seemed literary and cinematic to me in all the ways he showed what these people are like and what they might portend for the rest of us.