How Silicon Valley has profited by aligning with MAGA
5/6/202644 min
Atlantic writer George Packer discusses how tech venture capitalists, who are heavily invested in AI and cryptocurrency, aligned with Trump and influenced policies related to their own investments.
Also, David Bianculli reviews the new Netflix/BBC miniseries adaptation of ‘Lord of the Flies.’
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First 90 secondsSpeaker 00:00
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Terry Gross· Host0:17
This is Fresh Air. I'm Terry Gross. In the early days of internet startups, tech innovators in the Silicon Valley were seen as young idealists who developed their creations in their garages, bedrooms, or at the universities where they were students. But recently, many Silicon Valley leaders have become identified with the right, with President Donald Trump and MAGA. These tech billionaires are now often referred to as oligarchs because of their money, power, and access to the White House. How and why this alliance was formed is the subject of a new report in The Atlantic by my guest, George Packer. He shows how lucrative this alliance has been for the venture capitalists and for Trump. Packer writes that Trump's crypto wealth has grown by at least seven and a half billion dollars since 2024. His article is titled "The Venture Capital Populist: How David Sacks and the New Tech Right Went Full MAGA and Captured Washington." Sacks co-founded the venture capital fund Craft Ventures. He served as President Trump's special advisor for artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency. He's now co-chair