AI Startup School with Elon Musk, Satya Nadella, Sam Altman, Andrej Karpathy(events.ycombinator.com) |
AI Startup School with Elon Musk, Satya Nadella, Sam Altman, Andrej Karpathy(events.ycombinator.com) |
This is the guy who said things like:
“You could not pay me to marry outside of my ethnicity.”
“Just for the record, I was racist before it was cool.”
“Normalize Indian hate.”
“I just want a eugenic immigration policy, is that too much to ask.”
Why is YC normalizing what looks a whole lot like neo-nazism with a smug grin?
It's one thing to think the "woke" went too far or argue over some fringe issues.. its another to think any of the above statements are acceptable, make nazi salutes on stage (and then troll tweet about it), etc.
He's going to demo how you can use large language models and bot farms to manufacture consent on a media and communication platform you control.
https://x.com/dflieb/status/1851656958371057890 | https://archive.today/1QW1a
"When people show you who they are, believe them"
married to:
"Corporations are people"
i.e., they are a business, and if you ascribe (even notional) respectability to them, you're being naive.
One thing I always loved at YC was that it always felt like the aspirational version of what the tech industry could be. As big tech became the "bad guys", YC has continued to forge the inspirational path... quietly helping the builders and the makers.
Inviting Elon Musk, who is a Nazi sympathizer currently trying to take down the American government, really sucks.
Which YC companies or actions indicated they were a indicator of public good or public progress?
Which YC leaders indicated they were actors for good as opposed to merely good actors? Altman? Tan?
Ultimately the demographic of HN needs to realize whose interests we’re serving by posting here. If it’s free you are the product.
There's two ways capitalism can go: it's either the ability for anyone to build and create something from nothing, or a small group of people amassing a large portion of the power and wealth.
Unfortunately, we see mostly the latter. But YC has always felt like the former to me... if capitalism is going to exist, it's wonderful that anyone can participate. And yes, YC has made billions with this strategy and it's not a charity. But that's what makes it special – they've found a way to make money by enabling and supporting hard working people.
That being said, YC does give back. They invests in and help non-profits (https://www.ycombinator.com/nonprofits/). I did contract work for their first non-profit, Watsi, and YC was incredibly active in helping them (with no hope of any profit in return).
And finally, to answer your question about actors for good: pg and jessica are brilliant people who genuinely care. As are most, if not all, of the YC partners.
YC: Gimme some of that branding.
This is not a response to this moderation decision, just YC in general. What is happening with all my heroes? At least PG is aware of reality.
I found myself hesitating to post this, here on news.ycombinator.com. This forum has always discouraged "politics". But in the final analysis, you cannot separate politics from everything else. The suffering and death that Donald Trump and Elon Musk are currently in the process of expediting[2] is no less real for being "political". And if criticizing YCombinator for endorsing - or at least turning a blind eye to - this death and suffering, is considered "off topic", then this will be my last comment on this platform.
[0] https://abcnews.go.com/US/openais-sam-altman-warned-america-...
[1] This video is currently trending: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RpPTRcz1no
[2] https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/feb/07/donald...
They responded that the base layer is "money".
I have to concede that the behavior of Tech bosses is easier to explain using the money model.
oh and can't forget about big balls - https://www.newsweek.com/who-big-balls-teen-doge-engineer-ed...
- [1] https://www.theregister.com/2025/02/07/doge_staffer_twitter/
Y Combinator is really showing an incredible lack of judgement in even thinking this was a good idea. SV bubble I guess?
Maybe I'm too tolerant of intolerance, though. I could see someone flagging an HN post announcing an event with a nazi headliner.
Certainly sus...
Didn't the OpenAI drama (and the other stories about Altman that came out of that) already make it clear he is not a trustworthy person?
> it is a shocking wakeup call that Silicon Valley monied interests either lack principles entirely, or else adhere to principles fundamentally at odds with liberal democracy [1].
I'd take it farther: it's testament to a fundamental terribleness of computer geeks. I remember when people would say we'd make better leaders (and we'd say things like that to ourselves). It turns out our kind is way worse.
I'm not so sure. For instance Marc Andreessen coded as a kid (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Marc-Andreessen) and worked as a software developer employee (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc_Andreessen#Early_life_and...). Elon Musk also coded as a kid (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elon_Musk#Early_life) and was doing development for his earliest startup (at least). They started as computer geeks and became "venture capitalists and businessmen" later.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danish_resistance_movement
Integrity is the only long term defense against tyrants. Giving in kills your ability to think honestly (and like a chicken without a head these people can walk around thinking "they like Nietzsche" etc. but Nietzsche never knew them and never will, so to speak), you lose yourself and gain no physical security. You gain the company of other empty vessels.
And that's why fascism doesn't work in any sense worth caring about, IMO. It's built on the impotence and personality disorders of individuals, who seek to gain power over others as a result, and the ability to exploit and coerce masses with violence and lies. It's a parasite that destroys itself along with the host. Just look at the people most staunchly for it. They're all trash. They've always been, historically, and currently. Call that a personal attack I call it not pretending 2+2=5. There's plenty of scholarly ways to say the same thing, but it won't change the thing.
You see a rich turtle on its back in the desert. It cannot even cook its own meals. It seems nasty, and like quite the bore. Do you walk on, taking a sip from your jug, or do you wear it on your head and ask it where to go and what to do, for no reason at all?