Leah Feiger: I believe that is a extremely, actually good level, truthfully. And clearly there is a clear worry {that a} Lina Khan-esque determine may are available and wreak havoc. However to your level, that havoc will probably be paperwork. No, I hear you. I hear you.
Zoë Schiffer: I imply, give it some thought. The one time he was held accountable in an actual method was for saying that he had cash to take Tesla personal. He had funding secured to take Tesla personal. What was the end result of that? He was fined $20 million? How a lot is Elon Musk price? In the end, even when that quantity hurts, he does not wish to pay it, it is type of a drop within the bucket.
Leah Feiger: No, he is a trillionaire now, once more, I assume. And I assume to that time, this isn’t the primary time that tremendous PACs or huge cash in politics has stirred up a little bit little bit of controversy. We had this huge dialog in 2024 about how loopy it was that Elon Musk was simply throwing cash on the wall, and now he is throwing cash once more by way of America PAC, which now looks like a sample, and it looks like different tech founders and their affect and their PACs are already outsized on this administration. You’ve gotten PACs from all types of teams up and down Silicon Valley which are very concerned this election cycle. I am actually thinking about what you are listening to about how of us are enthusiastic about this midterm cycle and the way they’re type of pondering extra future.
Zoë Schiffer: Yeah. I imply, Silicon Valley shouldn’t be a monolith. You hear loads from the actually loud voices within the room, and a variety of these voices are individuals who have gone all in on supporting President Trump and the Republican Celebration. And I believe these individuals type of align with Elon Musk in a number of the fears that you’ve stated, that there will probably be investigations, that if Democrats take management, it will gradual development, that they will not be capable of lead the race in AI and these different areas. And so they should go all in and defend that future that they wish to see occur. After all, there are a variety of rank-and-file staff who’ve extra liberal values, and they’re staying a little bit extra quiet, however they’re contributing to totally different causes. It is an attention-grabbing dialog within the Valley proper now as a result of there are a variety of newly minted millionaires, individuals who labored in AI analysis and now have a ton of cash, and they’re having lively conversations on what’s the easiest way to deploy, to allocate capital proper now? The place can we put the cash to have the largest impact? Is it in philanthropy? Is it in politics? If it is in politics, the place ought to we contribute? There’s not one defining take proper now, however it’s undoubtedly a subject of dialog. Leah, as you and our listeners each know, the talk over AI safety has been all over the place these days. It has escaped containment in an enormous method. And in that debate, there’s one central philosophy that retains developing time and again, and it is beginning to grow to be type of the focal point, efficient altruism. Final month, AI researcher Jacob Coxon loudly voiced help for considered one of efficient altruism’s central considerations, that superior AI could destroy humanity. This kicked off a wave of headlines and a reasonably intense response from the Trump administration. Senior Pentagon officers labeled efficient altruism as a, quote, unquote, “harmful ideology” and an official Division of Protection social media account implored individuals to decide on, quote, “Americanism, not efficient altruism.” So we’re actually seeing these dividing traces. However Leah, simply to again up a little bit bit, when did you grow to be conscious, since you’re not in Silicon Valley, you are in New York, when did you find out about efficient altruism?
