Getting a learn on Silicon Valley elites may be difficult, however Samo Burja not too long ago sketched out a “few fundamentals” about three of them: Tesla CEO Elon Musk, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, and know-how investor Peter Thiel.
Burja, president of the political threat consultancy Bismarck Evaluation, shared his ideas on the billionaires throughout the inaugural episode of the Stay Gamers podcast, launched this week. He describes “dwell gamers” as individuals who step away from norms, improvise, and assume from first ideas, saying such people are instrumental to stopping societal stagnation.
Burja stated that upon listening to the widespread knowledge, Altman’s response is perhaps “sure, and” whereas Thiel’s could be “no, however.” As for Musk, Burja laughed, “I don’t assume Elon’s even listening.”
Altman, he stated, will “see the place the keenness and vitality lies, and it’s like, ‘Okay can we harness this and even additional develop it, even develop this and push it someplace actual.’ He sees cryptocurrencies, and he’s like, what about…a coin for the world that adjustments the world financial system to organize for the post-scarcity future.”
He cited Worldcoin, which Altman cofounded a few years ago. The thought behind the startup is that folks will be capable to show their personhood in a web-based world that might be quickly be overrun by AI bots. They’ll do that by scanning their irises utilizing a shiny metallic orb. Once you’re scanned, verified, and onboarded, you’re given some proprietary crypto tokens, additionally referred to as Worldcoins. Later the system may turn into a method to implement common fundamental revenue, an thought that may acquire traction if AI results in large-scale unemployment. Worldcoin, maybe not surprisingly, has sparked widespread privacy concerns.
Musk, physics, and engineering
As for Musk, Burja continued, “Elon’s perspective is so first-principles pushed that whereas he does acknowledge what’s in style and not and can work with it, his selections as to what to do subsequent aren’t tied in any respect to the mainstream however are following, I don’t know, like a know-how tree chart derived from fundamental physics or his favourite science fiction story.”
Musk, he stated, will go straight into an business that’s extensively thought of hopeless, too crowded, or too mature—resembling electrical autos or area—“however have it work this time.”
To make one thing like Tesla succeed as Musk did, he stated, “you would need to consider it not phrases of automotive corporations, however the uncooked vitality potential of batteries…the batteries hold getting higher, so logically ultimately a automotive firm would work.”
Musk supplied insights into how he thinks about physics versus engineering in a recent episode of the Lex Fridman Podcast, saying: “Physics is simply deepening one’s perception into how actuality works. Then there’s engineering, which is inventing issues which have by no means existed…As soon as you determine the foundations of the universe…you may then construct applied sciences which might be actually nearly limitless.”
As for Thiel, Burja continued, “Thiel’s query is ‘How is the mainstream flawed and what can we do about it to make it appropriate?’ Which makes him an incredible know-how investor—an incredible technologist, but additionally an incredible investor.”
Thiel, he stated, “is extraordinarily good at noticing when the widespread consensus is appropriate or flawed for mainly dangerous causes—and I do embody appropriate right here—the place everytime you assume that even when persons are directionally making the fitting wager for the flawed causes, there’s some, you realize, monetary alpha there, there’s some chance of discovering that distinction.”
Thiel, a conservative libertarian who’s donated closely to right-wing politicians, is understood for making daring swings on uncommon concepts. He was satisfied effectively earlier than most individuals that funds would go digital and Bitcoin would take off, and he wrote a $500,000 verify to a Harvard scholar on one thing referred to as “Thefacebook.”
How Elon Musk, Sam Altman, and Peter Thiel tick differently fortune.com 2023-12-03 23:50:41
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