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The whole thing was a scam

garymarcus.substack.com

121–130 of 347 posts

Re: The whole thing was a scam

#121

25M isn’t even that much money. Not only are they whores, they’re cheap whores.

It's more than that, supposedly Sama donated another 25mil through a PAC.

I'm sure the Crypto AI Czar (David Sacks) being a major Anthropic hater didn't hurt either

Or that Kushner put a billion in OpenAI recently

EDIT: wow they got in at a huge discount too and OpenAI bought stake in Thrive...

https://www.wsj.com/articles/thrive-capital-bought-shares-in...

https://openai.com/index/thrive-holdings/

Re: The whole thing was a scam

#123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some people just don’t want to hear it no matter what. Not because they are unusually stupid or inherently evil but because they feel severely hurt by the societal changes and left out. Anything that gives a hint of hope of reverting things to be the way they were is justified and no price is too high. They can steal as long as they are our thieves. To get through to these people you have to validate their deep fears…

> To get through to these people you have to validate their deep fears. Not just say - shut up, you are stupid, vote for me. Everyone says this kind of stuff, but honestly I don't think I agree. Everyone says that you have to be nice to these people to attract them, but that doesn't seem to have been the case for people like Trump or any of the other demagogues that have popped up in the last decade or so. These peop…

One fictional character that I think is helpful to bring is Luke Skywalker. It’s not about politeness, but about genuinely knowing why people behave the way they are and then offering them alternative other than QAnon.

Listening to QAnon is a desperate attempt to understand the world after every other mainstream figure of authority failed that person.

What I am talking about is not politeness. Politeness is tone management. The McCain/Romney approach. I respect my opponent, let's find common ground, here's my reasonable plan. That is only decorum. But Trump did validate. That's precisely why he won. He just validated the ugliest parts. When he said the system is rigged, that the elites despise you, that your way of life is under siege, millions of people heard the first person in power say what they felt. The content was often vile, the solutions were fraudulent, but the emotional recognition was real. He didn't win by being polite. He won by being the first one to say your rage makes sense.

The mistake is thinking validation means being nice. It doesn't. It means demonstrating that you understand what someone is actually experiencing before you ask them to go somewhere with you. Trump does this instinctively, he just leads people somewhere destructive.

Re: The whole thing was a scam

#124
It's interesting this thread is all about how the deal is basically the same therefore corruption. And the other thread is all about how it's subtly different therefore OpenAI has no model red lines.

I'd love to hear if Anthropic actually would accept this deal, if offered.

Re: The whole thing was a scam

#125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some people just don’t want to hear it no matter what. Not because they are unusually stupid or inherently evil but because they feel severely hurt by the societal changes and left out. Anything that gives a hint of hope of reverting things to be the way they were is justified and no price is too high. They can steal as long as they are our thieves. To get through to these people you have to validate their deep fears…

> To get through to these people you have to validate their deep fears. Not just say - shut up, you are stupid, vote for me. Everyone says this kind of stuff, but honestly I don't think I agree. Everyone says that you have to be nice to these people to attract them, but that doesn't seem to have been the case for people like Trump or any of the other demagogues that have popped up in the last decade or so. These peop…

It cuts deep when it becomes so personal. What the heck do you say to grandma when that happens? I can’t imagine what I would do.

In the end I think to preserve democracy one has to become involved. Standing on the sideline at this point doesn’t cut it.

Re: The whole thing was a scam

#127

I'll try not to be too flippant but... he thought the US ever _wasn't_ an oligarchy?

Flippant be hanged! IMO, it all started with W Bush, who put the icing on that cake by invading Iraq based on a televised lie. He was "sneaky" but the current administration doesn't even try to sneak. The mid-terms may be our final chance to save our nation.

> The mid-terms may be our final chance to save our nation.

I don’t understand anyone who believes that. What do you expect to happen during the midterms exactly that would bring the US back on some mythical track of rule of law, with a just and fair government? The corruption runs so deep, the institutions have been gutted, there are no good people in charge left. This ride is going to last a while, and the way out (if there’s one) looks nothing like the way in.

Re: The whole thing was a scam

#128

25M isn’t even that much money. Not only are they whores, they’re cheap whores.

> 25M isn’t even that much money. Not only are they whores, they’re cheap whores.

I don't know, Anthropic is providing 10K open source developers with $200 subscriptions to their bot, for up to 6 months. 200 * 10000 * 6 = $12 Million total. That's even cheaper, I'm not sure what conclusion to draw from all this.

Re: The whole thing was a scam

#130

PS: If openly bribing a crony gov to cancel your competitor is now the de-facto standard of making business in the US, I don't see how any rational investor could still see US companies as a secure investment. When the rule of law degrades into pay-to-play politics, the inevitable result is a mass exodus of both capital and top-tier talent.

This has already happened, its a key reason why the dollar is down 15% since the new admin took power.
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