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A.I.

Jack Dorsey politics have always been anti-establishment above all else, with a particular interest in radicals who challenge the party’s progressive-ish gospel.

Jack & Bobby 2.0

News and notes from around the political donor universe: a Reid Hoffman controversy in Denver, Tim Draper’s Haley endorsement, and Robert Kennedy Jr.’s new money buddy, Jack Dorsey.
Theodore Schleifer • June 6, 2023
Theodore Schleifer • May 30, 2023
Epstein Aftershocks & A Gates Divorce Deadline
The view from inside Bill and Melinda’s $50 billion philanthropy. Plus notes on another Musk-Thiel acolyte signing on with DeSantis, and a Biden fundraising journey to the Wall Street of the West.
Baratunde Thurston • May 29, 2023
The Case for (Temporarily) Unplugging A.I.
Tristan Harris, co-founder and executive director of the Center for Humane Technology.
When I first heard calls for a pause on the development of advanced A.I., I was skeptical of the benefits. Now, I fear we are running out of time.
Beyond the obvious jokes about whether Elon Musk fanboys are a meaningful Waterloo constituency, the DeSantis rollout fiasco does raise the question about the future of conservative media on Twitter.
Tina Nguyen • May 25, 2023
Elon’s Murdochian DeSantasy
Ruminations on MAGA political-media tragedy.
David Sacks
Theodore Schleifer • May 23, 2023
DeSantis-Sacks ’24
David Sacks, the PayPal Mafia scion, has ascended from mere rabble-rouser into a genuine G.O.P. cultural and political force, starting super PACs and dark-money groups, appearing on Tucker, and in his latest media venture, launching DeSantis himself.
Theodore Schleifer • May 16, 2023
The Other Bernie Revolution
Both Trump and DeSantis are soliciting the financial support of Home Depot gazillionaire Bernie Marcus, the ultra prolific G.O.P. donor who’s suddenly noncommittal. Should Mar-a-Lago be worried?
Theodore Schleifer • May 9, 2023
S.B.F.’s Jack and Jackie
Ryan Salame and Michelle Bond were the wedding cake-top couple in the S.B.F. orbit: the good-looking, charismatic, uber-ambitious, highly socialized D.C. creatures among the bean bag crowd. Will Salame flip on S.B.F. just like the rest of them?
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres recently said, “Humanity is on thin ice, and that ice is melting fast. Our world needs climate action on all fronts—everything, everywhere, all at once.”
Baratunde Thurston • May 1, 2023
The Case for Climate Optimism
Herewith, a bottom-up view of the progress we’ve made, and may continue to make, to combat global warming—which centers, of course, on our honesty over the severity of the challenges and using technology to organize.
Jeffery Katzenberg, a Hollywood mogul with gravitas in fundraising circles from a decade or two in the trenches.
Theodore Schleifer • April 25, 2023
Will Katzenberg Lead Biden’s $2B Machine?
Sure, there is a presidential election to think about… but in the meantime, the biggest race in American politics is for the job of Biden’s national finance chair. And the second biggest? His finance director.
Larry EllisonLarry Ellison has been described over the years as a “thinking-with-his-heart” donor.
Theodore Schleifer • April 18, 2023
The Larry Ellison Election
Silicon Valley’s $100 billion man wants Tim Scott, the affable and inspirational South Carolina senator, to be the next president. If only it were that easy.
Every job, in every sector, will be impacted by A.I. But the law, with high hourly rates for often straightforward and replicable tasks, seems very vulnerable.
Eriq Gardner • April 17, 2023
Is Your Robo Lawyer Breaking the Law?
Inside a controversial lawsuit over whether A.I. will tear the legal profession asunder.
Jeff Bezos’s pursuit of the Commanders NFL franchise seems to have ended.
Theodore Schleifer • April 12, 2023
Jeff Bezos Punts on the Washington Commanders
(For now.) Will he set his sights on the Seahawks?
Jeff Bezos, in his putative pursuit of the Commanders, has essentially thrown away the typical playbook for purchasing a sports team.
Theodore Schleifer • April 11, 2023
More Bezos NFL Murmurs & An S.B.F. Co-Conspirator Mystery
Scoops from the internal rumblings in and around the three comma club: the latest details about Bezos’s Commanders interest, the tech G.O.P. bundling wars, and the silence of FTX’s CC-2, Ryan Salame.
There is an anxiety in NFL circles that Jeff Bezos has been keeping quiet before decisively pouncing on the Commanders at the last minute.
Theodore Schleifer • April 4, 2023
Gaming the Bezos-NFL Silent Auction
Is Jeff Bezos really sitting out the chance to land the most coveted job in Washington? Or has he found a way to circumvent the public campaign process for the Commanders entirely?
In defending his new pay-for-verification scheme, Twitter C.E.O. Elon Musk offered some absurd First Amendment-baiting pablum.
Baratunde Thurston • April 2, 2023
Elon’s Blue Period
Marshall McLuhan famously said the medium was the message. Turns out he was only scratching the surface: social media is the message, and maybe it shouldn’t be.
Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale hasn’t formally committed to raising money for Ron DeSantis’s putative presidential run, but a forthcoming event likely signals his intentions.
Theodore Schleifer • March 28, 2023
The DeSantis-Lonsdale ’24 Beauty Pageant
Joe Lonsdale, the outspoken Palantir co-founder and V.C., is rolling out the green carpet for Ron DeSantis at a splashy event next month. Will the rest of the Silicon Valley G.O.P. billionaires follow suit?
At a high level, Reid Hoffman doesn’t view the Florida governor as an existential threat to democracy, unlike Trump, and believes he may even have the ability to successfully govern.
Theodore Schleifer • March 21, 2023
S.B.F. Informants & A Strange DeSantis Bedfellow
New details on the subpoenas and next cards to flip in the FTX campaign-finance case. Plus, why Reid Hoffman might be offering some unlikely assistance to DeSantis.
Baratunde Thurston • March 19, 2023
A.I., SVB & “Woke” Finance Fears
Reflections on the new ChatGPT, “doughnut economics,” D.E.I. backlash, and what the right got wrong about Silicon Valley Bank.