E101: Wokeism & Class w/ David Sacks, Trump’s AI Czar [Upstream Archive]

In this 2023 conversation between Erik Torenberg and David Sacks, they discuss David’s new role as Donald Trump's AI and crypto czar, the shift towards censorship and wokeness in Silicon Valley, particularly at companies like PayPal and Twitter, and the broader implications for free speech, public debate, and the future of liberalism. For full show notes, visit: https://highlightai.com/share/e55b5666-67b9-4c2a-8968-943cee9f0466 —📰Be notified early when Turpentine's drops new publication: https://www.turpentine.co/exclusiveaccess 🙏Help shape our show by taking our quick listener survey at https://bit.ly/TurpentinePulse —SPONSORS:🕵️‍♂️Take your personal data back with Incogni! Use code UPSTREAM at the link below and get 60% off an annual plan: https://incogni.com/upstream 💥 Head to Squad to access global engineering without the headache and at a fraction of the cost: head to https://choosesquad.com/ and mention “Turpentine” to skip the waitlist.—X / TWITTER:@davidsacks@eriktorenberg@turpentinemedia—TIMESTAMPS:(00:00) Intro(00:34) Discussion of PayPal's evolution and tech industry changes(01:08) Early days of PayPal and free speech values(02:28) The role of ADL and SPLC in tech censorship(03:39) Changes in Silicon Valley's political culture(06:39) Government collusion with tech companies(08:45) Evolution of Silicon Valley's political landscape(13:54) Discussion of institutional capture(17:20) Analysis of democratic capitalism's evolution(22:34) Sponsors: Incogni | Squad(24:20) Discussion of tech monopolies and regulation(28:09) Analysis of section 230 and tech regulation(32:55) Foreign policy evolution and interventionism(37:18) Discussion of institutional reform(42:37) Analysis of tech company management(46:28) Elon Musk's Twitter reforms(50:28) Future of tech industry and political polarization(54:40) Discussion of counter-elite formation(58:50) Solutions for institutional accountability(01:15:48) Wrap-up and closing remarks Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.