Mark Zuckerberg, Tim Cook, and Sundar Pichai have aligned publicly with Donald Trump. One speaker grapples with feeling judged for his own political views and wonders if these CEOs genuinely changed or are acting opportunistically, while noting Meta allowed national-security use of its AI before the 2024 election.
Someone like me and someone like Mark, two relatively rational actors, how could we possibly say we jointly hold the keys to changing the way that the government consumes information and fights on the battlefield, but we're not going to because we're pissed at each other? Like that, that, that, that— I think if you'd explain that to me 3 years ago and you said, imagine this scenario, I think I would have said, man, I don't think any of that shit's going to happen. Yeah, but if it did, Yeah, I could see that.
I mean, let's put the zuck of it all to the side for a second. Sure. Is there not some part of you that— I get what you're saying, the greater good, but to see Tim Cook, Sundar, up there next to Trump now, I mean, some part of you must vomit over to the side, you know, as if this is like normal behavior on their part, given the context of what they've done over the years.
I think— I mean, I've gone through my— I've gone through my— I've made my peace with it. Like, I like— yeah, look, at a visceral level, it does piss me off. In fact, if you look at some interviews right when that happened, I was saying things like that. I was like, yeah, you know, it kind of makes me like— I remember what these people were saying about me, people like me, people who share only some of my political beliefs, and what they were saying about ordinary people who, like, they're acting like everyone who supports Trump must just be an awful person. I like I remember the past, but like I said, you want, you want to persuade. And if they're persuaded, plus, you know, there's a little bit of shit eating there. Look, look, do you think, you think, you think people like Sundar want to be on that stage? There's a little bit of schadenfreude there. Yeah. You know, I'd rather they be standing there than me. Some of these people, I think, have really had a change of heart. Others, I think it is very opportunistic. And I think actually people know what it is like. I think people look at someone like Mark and they say, wow, he really does seem to have had a change of heart. Like, for example, Meta decided to allow national security use of their AI before Trump won. That isn't a reaction to Trump winning. That was, I think, a pretty principled move to do something regardless of who won. And I think actually getting it done before the election was probably important to show this is not a reaction to Biden winning or Harris winning or Trump winning. It's something that's important no matter what. Other people— it reminds me of the Patti LaBelle song. New Attitude. Are you familiar? Sure.
I'm in control. My worries are few.
Know where I'm going and I know what to do. Tidied up my point of view. I got a new attitude.
They're in control. Their worries are few.
They've tidied up their point of view. I think there's a lot of people who are in that category, and I can't say I respect it, but I'm happy to work with them.
