Silicon Valley Is Maximizing Profit at Everyone's Expense. It Doesn’t Have to Be This Way.
By Bruce Buchanan and Hans Taparia
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.
Read the full Los Angeles Times article.
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Bruce Buchanan is C.W. Nichols Professor of Business Ethics and Professor of Marketing at NYU Stern. Hans Taparia is Clinical Associate Professor of Business and Society at NYU Stern.