Sam Altman in 2016 vs 2024
Wednesday, 12 Mar 2025
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Altman was a very rich man in 2016. But in 2025, he is stupendously, fabulously, wealthy.
Did he vote for Trump this time, or he just knows how Trump works so he’s setting his business up to succeed like every other major company in the US?
Money is a hell of a drug
America is literally becoming a feudal state
Bend the knee
This is why the tech bros wanted Trump. He doesn’t care what they do as long as he gets his cut. They know they can buy him off, and SCOTUS said it’s 100% legal for him to take bribes in exchange for official acts (whether paying such a bribe is legal remains an open question, but that part doesn’t impact Trump).
Bend the knee, AI guy.
This might be an unpopular opinion but I think we should be loyal to ourselves and not to a political party. They dont care about you.
Gotta pay the oligarchs
I don’t know if it’s because all these guys think alike and see threats/opportunities in the same way, or if they literally all talk to each other and get on the same page, but… I’m seeing a trend here, lol. They believe that the climate of the country has changed and Trump-style politics (and the power of the GOP) is going to be pretty solid for the next few years. As someone who’s not a fan, it’s pretty scary to see.
All the tech bros who have been polluting the air waves with their “vision” and “principles” for the last two decades have just been shown to be call girls for hire.
And you wonder why some Germans supported Hitler… Here is your answer, the same is unfolding right before our eyes in the USA
MAKE BILLIONAIRS SCARED AGAIN
Follow the money.
That’s an ok chess move.
Doesn’t mean he *really* supports trump. He just has to make it look like it, if he wants to make it.
People are finally realizing the hit job legacy media have been doing the past 8 years.
Stop listening to what people say and pay attention to what they do
Principles? Never met him.
Agendas change all the time.
# #ProtectionMoney
Get in, losers, we’re all doing fascism now.
Gotta kiss the ring, Zuck is doing the exact same thing.
Bend the knee, kiss the ring….
It’s all political theater!
Everyone needs to kiss the ring if they want to make it to 2026.
Reruns
Seen this episode a couple hundred years ago
We’re at an insane moment in American history where you can’t be politically active against republicans and also invested in American business.
You will be rewarded handsomely for genuflecting or you will be targeted.
This is literally everyone wealthy who supports Donald Trump in 2024.
Sam just hadn’t gotten enough of his yet. Now that he has his everyone else can get fucked!
This is fine because Trump’s own VP called him “America’s Hitler”… and made even harsher statements against him on podcasts.
The dark comedy aspect about all this is that there is still room for their initial assessments to be correct. Time will tell at this point. But nowadays everyone’s just going with the flow… wherever that leads us.
Sell out
Every tech leader needs to kiss the dear leaders ring. It’s why Zuckerberg is now a right winger suddenly talking about “freedom of speech”.
This is what happens in a corrupt oligarchy. Some day I hope America gets a democratic system instead.
Smart entrepreneurs don’t let politics get in the way of money (and the livelihood of your company)
Just business as usual in politics
Once you’re in, you’re in. Can’t expect a Big Tech owner to behave like when back when he was a regular citizen
That is how it works on both sides. Hating and meat riding. Welcome to America
Remember when it was generally frowned upon to “flip flop”? Entire campaigns were invalidated over much lesser flippy floppies.
So did Google and Microsoft and Meta and other giants
Ironically you can ask ChatGPT why, these aren’t punk rock companies, they desire to compete and have influence.
It sucks but they don’t care about the individual.
Gotta kiss that Ring.
American Venom
To be clear the shit Zuck did was fucked, but I think this anger being directed at people like Sam, Satya (Microsoft), etc is misplaced.
They’re donating money to trump’s inauguration for one reason: because our president is somebody who gives special treatment to those that kiss the ring, and punishes those that don’t. That’s the problem, not companies donating the equivalent of a few bucks to them.
What are they supposed to do, risk their company crumbling and everyone they work with losing their jobs? Then they’d get shit on for that.
Stop normalizing trump. It’s gonna get harder and harder over the next few years, but it’s very important we don’t start normalizing his behavior, that’s how shit gets really dark
Many business leaders who don’t like Trump are donating to the inauguration. It works the other way as well; business leaders who didn’t support Biden still donate to the inauguration or other pet project. Or meet with him if possible. They don’t hafta like each other, they just do what they can for their businesses. It’s how croney capitalism works.
In THIS case, my guess is there are several AI startups getting off the ground and Altman wants to ensure the new administration sides with OpenAI rather than competitors when it comes to legislation and integration of AI into government systems.
Sam’s love of money is a greater force than his morality and that’s ok.