Erin Griffith

Andreessen is still a little bit concerned about the direction that things are going. He views it as a slippery slope that, you know, tracking things like hate speech, moderating things is a road to censorship. And so he kind of concludes that the oversight is going a little bit too far.

Andreessen is still a little bit concerned about the direction that things are going. He views it as a slippery slope that, you know, tracking things like hate speech, moderating things is a road to censorship. And so he kind of concludes that the oversight is going a little bit too far.

And then Joe Biden gets elected, which in his mind accelerates all the problems that he saw already unfolding in the tech industry. How so? Well, especially during the pandemic, the Biden administration put a lot of pressure on Facebook to suppress things like the lab leak theory of how COVID started.

And then Joe Biden gets elected, which in his mind accelerates all the problems that he saw already unfolding in the tech industry. How so? Well, especially during the pandemic, the Biden administration put a lot of pressure on Facebook to suppress things like the lab leak theory of how COVID started.

At one point, Biden accused the social media platforms of killing people by allowing disinformation on the vaccines to flourish.

At one point, Biden accused the social media platforms of killing people by allowing disinformation on the vaccines to flourish.

Yeah. And just to add a little bit of context, Democrats have historically had a very tight relationship with the tech industry, and Joe Biden did not. And, you know, among the first things that Biden does is he appoints two people that the tech industry really does not like to key regulatory roles. That's Lena Kahn as the head of FTC, Gary Gensler at the SEC, and

Yeah. And just to add a little bit of context, Democrats have historically had a very tight relationship with the tech industry, and Joe Biden did not. And, you know, among the first things that Biden does is he appoints two people that the tech industry really does not like to key regulatory roles. That's Lena Kahn as the head of FTC, Gary Gensler at the SEC, and

You know, they're going after big tech for antitrust. That hurts mergers and acquisitions and the ability of some of Andreessen's portfolio companies to get bought. Gary Gensler is going after the crypto industry, and that hurts a lot of the companies that Andreessen Horowitz has invested in. They're one of the biggest crypto investors.

You know, they're going after big tech for antitrust. That hurts mergers and acquisitions and the ability of some of Andreessen's portfolio companies to get bought. Gary Gensler is going after the crypto industry, and that hurts a lot of the companies that Andreessen Horowitz has invested in. They're one of the biggest crypto investors.

And so the Biden administration really takes this kind of antagonistic view toward tech. And a lot of people in the tech industry bristled at that.

And so the Biden administration really takes this kind of antagonistic view toward tech. And a lot of people in the tech industry bristled at that.

Absolutely. And this all sort of culminates in this meeting that happened last May. Andreessen and a lot of other tech people met with Biden's people to talk about AI. And he basically comes away with the view that the Democrats are not just trying to control speech, but they're trying to control Silicon Valley. They're trying to control technology.

Absolutely. And this all sort of culminates in this meeting that happened last May. Andreessen and a lot of other tech people met with Biden's people to talk about AI. And he basically comes away with the view that the Democrats are not just trying to control speech, but they're trying to control Silicon Valley. They're trying to control technology.

According to Andreessen, Biden's people basically came in and took a very antagonistic view of AI and how to regulate it.

According to Andreessen, Biden's people basically came in and took a very antagonistic view of AI and how to regulate it.

They essentially said AI is going to be controlled by the government. Don't fund AI startups. This is his characterization. Other people who were there, including Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, disputes that characterization, says maybe it's a little exaggerated.

They essentially said AI is going to be controlled by the government. Don't fund AI startups. This is his characterization. Other people who were there, including Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, disputes that characterization, says maybe it's a little exaggerated.

The overall takeaway from Andreessen was that this is going to be a hostile fight between government regulators who want to clamp down on the technology that he and the companies that he invests in want to build.

The overall takeaway from Andreessen was that this is going to be a hostile fight between government regulators who want to clamp down on the technology that he and the companies that he invests in want to build.