Silicon Valley is maximizing profit at everyone’s expense.
It doesn’t have to be this way
A public battle has broken out among the titans of Silicon Valley.
🔸One side, led by #Elon #Musk, PayPal co-founder #Peter #Thiel and venture capitalists #Marc #Andreessen and #Ben #Horowitz,
is backing Donald #Trump for president.
🔸The other, led by LinkedIn co-founder #Reid #Hoffman, is behind Kamala #Harris.
⚠️We should not make the mistake of thinking this is a battle over ideology or policy.
It’s a battle to ♦️maximize Silicon Valley’s profits regardless of the consequences for society.♦️
On this objective, both sides agree.
Andreessen Horowitz is one of the largest investors in #cryptocurrency and #artificial #intelligence,
and Trump has signaled that he would keep the government out of its business.
Meanwhile, soon after donating $7 million to a Harris super PAC,
Hoffman called for her to oust Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman #Lina #Khan,
who has brought antitrust cases against Big Tech and introduced rules to protect workers.
Silicon Valley, a longtime engine of human achievement,
has become a significant source of human harm.
Aware of the gathering backlash, its leaders have dived into the political fray 💥to protect their wealth.💥
Two Silicon Valley obsessions threaten the most damage:
creating human #addiction to increase profits
and #eliminating #humans altogether to decrease costs.
Social media platforms,
which started out by bringing old friends together and giving voice to the otherwise powerless,
have become “social slot machines”
compelling excessive use.
Gaming companies have a similar objective.
Teenagers today spend more than eight hours a day on screens,
fueling digital advertising revenues that reached $225 billion last year.
Meanwhile, the artificial intelligence revolution promises to cut labor costs.
A recent study by MIT economist #Daron #Acemoglu found that 50% to 70% of the growth in inequality between more and less educated workers can be attributed to automation.
Poverty rates in Silicon Valley’s home state are rising
even as AI makes Big Tech richer.
The broader prospects are equally concerning.
AI is enabling killer robots, autonomous weapons and massively destructive misinformation.
https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2024-08-30/silicon-valley-big-tech-profit-ai-elon-musk-reid-hoffman-peter-thiel-andreessen-horowitz-kamala-harris-donald-trump-election-2024