Andreessen Horowitz Wants ChatGPT to be President

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Happy Tuesday, folks.

There was a college football bowl game on yesterday at 11:30 AM in SF.

On a related note, I had a doctor’s appointment from 11:00-3:00.

I don’t think that’s completely lying, though.

You tell me something more sick than spending three hours watching Western Kentucky and Old Dominion…

Andreessen Horowitz Wants ChatGPT to be President

Anyone have any idea what the IRR on buying a Senator is?

If you do, go ahead and apply to Andreessen Horowitz, the titan of tech investing which announced that it is branching into a new form of tech support, namely funding the political campaigns of pro-tech politicians.

To be very clear, the firm isn’t the first to endorse and support political candidates. Thiel is a notorious Republican who has donated more than $50 million of his own Zuck-earned cash, and everyone in Tim Draper’s contact list got an essay from Bitcoin’s crazy uncle detailing his rationale for supporting Nicky Haley, along with a well-placed GoFundMe link to ask for a few spare hundred dollar bills from his crowd.

However, as a whole, VCs have traditionally been a bit more lowkey about their involvement in the political arena. So when a16z cofounder Ben Horowitz wrote an essay detailing the firm’s commitment to backing officials who will help the US to “retain our global technology leadership,” it raised quite a few eyebrows.

What industries exactly does the firm hope this “leadership” is cemented in?

Some quick Venmo tracing of the firm’s most recent investments (did we learn nothing from the Michigan cheating scandal???) and newly announced funds committed to infrastructure and American dynamism respectively give some indication. Plus, the companies overwhelming financial support for startups in the AI and crypto space suggest that they are bullish on these sectors as well.

While I won’t make sweeping statements, I’d assume that the firm’s allocation skews in the direction of Thiel more so than SBF. In the essay, the firm explicitly pointed out the perils of overregulation, something which is like Voldemort for Conservatives.

Republican candidates also tend to be more crypto-friendly, mostly because the technology is built on the ethos of decentralization, and given Biden’s Executive Order, it’s clear that the Dems have an agenda to slow things down in AI for a bit.

There are certainly exceptions to the rule, and it’s not clear just how seriously the firm will weigh the realities of issues like climate change, something it acknowledges explicitly in the statement, though it doesn’t seem to be part of the “one issue” agenda upon which the firm will be voting.

Plus, there are certainly candidates in the Democratic ranks who are a bit more tech-friendly. Looking at you, Bobbie!

The impact is unlikely to be immediate, but given how contested all government bodies are these days, swaying just a couple of seats might be more than enough to make a mark, particularly if they can get strategic with their contributions, targeting candidates in tech hubs or those in swing states who might really have the winning “yay.”

It’s worth noting, though, that putting tech above all else isn’t necessarily the impetus for a flying car utopia. There are legitimate risks to progress without checks, though. Twitter is always breaking the latest data breach, environmental consequence of some company’s latest decision, and concern over the social effects of artificial intelligence, whether perpetuating racial or sexual biases or widening the income gap.

As for a16z’ vision, they see a world where America stands as the shining example of an AI-powered society free of the shackles of big tech and big law, restoring America to its post-WWII hegemony, reestablishing Silicon Valley as the place for ambitious people to congregate, sharing ideas as they build their visions without fear over whether some 85-year-old Congressman is going to effectively kill their business in one uninformed swipe of the pen.

That’s right; they still physically sign…

To be very clear, they do claim to recognize the necessity of guardrails, particularly as they relate to consumer protection.

However, while the presence of Big Tech’s money on Capitol Hill is widely accepted, the firm explicitly pointed out that their thesis is not another tech industry love poem but rather an innovation-focused stance which is actually at odds with the desires of tech companies who often have more of an interest in maintaining the status quo rather than making progress.

Just look at all of the big AI companies like OpenAI, Google, Amazon, etc lobbying for more AI Regulation, or the Big Finance and Tech companies fighting against crypto adoption. These are not “consumer-protecting” stances so much as they are strategic moves to protect their moat from potential competitors.

I won’t lie to you, Andreessen Horowitz’ field trip to the White House will probably not be the end of Big Tech, the Michael’s Secret Stuff that supercharges founders to take down The Monstars that are Zuck, Warren, and the interns in charge of pumping out social graphics of their company’s statements because society has lost the ability to read plain text.

However, it could sway just a couple of elections, and more than that, it could inspire other players in the space who are more interested in innovation than they are in “Tech” to join the cause, further pushing the cause that is the underdog founders.

Kudos to you, a16z. Doing the Lord’s work, and having the coolest name in the game while doing it.

Cheers to another day,

Trey