Marc Andreessen

The crypto attack was so weird that we didn't know what to make of it, and we were just hoping it would pass, which it didn't. But it was when they threatened to do the same thing to AI that we realized we had to get involved in politics. And then we were up against what looked like the absolutely terrifying prospect of a second term.

The crypto attack was so weird that we didn't know what to make of it, and we were just hoping it would pass, which it didn't. But it was when they threatened to do the same thing to AI that we realized we had to get involved in politics. And then we were up against what looked like the absolutely terrifying prospect of a second term.

You That would be great. What you just said would be great compared to what we actually got. So again, the precondition here, what we got with crypto was they just flat out tried to kill it. This whole debanking thing, like they just debanked an entire generation of founders. They debanked their families. They really destroyed people's lives. They just killed companies left, right, and center.

You That would be great. What you just said would be great compared to what we actually got. So again, the precondition here, what we got with crypto was they just flat out tried to kill it. This whole debanking thing, like they just debanked an entire generation of founders. They debanked their families. They really destroyed people's lives. They just killed companies left, right, and center.

They did regulation through enforcement. They would never define what the rules were. They would just arbitrarily sue people.

They did regulation through enforcement. They would never define what the rules were. They would just arbitrarily sue people.

When they didn't think they could sue people and win, they would do this thing where they'd issue these things called Wells Notices, which is basically a public announcement that the government is going to sue you in the future, which is basically a death sentence for a company. So we saw this exercise of raw authoritarian administrative power levied against crypto.

When they didn't think they could sue people and win, they would do this thing where they'd issue these things called Wells Notices, which is basically a public announcement that the government is going to sue you in the future, which is basically a death sentence for a company. So we saw this exercise of raw authoritarian administrative power levied against crypto.

And then basically we saw the beginnings of what we thought was going to be that apply to AI. And so it's like, you know, AI needs to be, you know, very carefully controlled by the government or by adjuncts of the government to, you know, make sure that there's no hate speech or misinformation, which is to say it has to be like completely politically controlled.

And then basically we saw the beginnings of what we thought was going to be that apply to AI. And so it's like, you know, AI needs to be, you know, very carefully controlled by the government or by adjuncts of the government to, you know, make sure that there's no hate speech or misinformation, which is to say it has to be like completely politically controlled.

And, you know, we were trying to keep our heads down, just trying to build startups. And then Ben and I went to Washington in May of 24. And, you know, we couldn't meet with Biden because as it turns out at the time, nobody could meet with Biden. But we were able to meet with senior staff. And so we met with very senior people in the White House, you know, in the inner core.

And, you know, we were trying to keep our heads down, just trying to build startups. And then Ben and I went to Washington in May of 24. And, you know, we couldn't meet with Biden because as it turns out at the time, nobody could meet with Biden. But we were able to meet with senior staff. And so we met with very senior people in the White House, you know, in the inner core.

And we basically relayed our concerns about AI. And their response to us was, yes, the national agenda on AI, as we will implement in the Biden administration and in the second term, is we are going to make sure that AI is going to be only a function of two or three large companies. We will directly regulate and control those companies. There will be no startups.

And we basically relayed our concerns about AI. And their response to us was, yes, the national agenda on AI, as we will implement in the Biden administration and in the second term, is we are going to make sure that AI is going to be only a function of two or three large companies. We will directly regulate and control those companies. There will be no startups.

This whole thing where you guys think you can just like start companies and write code and release code on the internet, like those days are over. That's not happening. And we were shocked that it was, you know, this was even worse than we thought. And so we said, well, that seems like really radical.

This whole thing where you guys think you can just like start companies and write code and release code on the internet, like those days are over. That's not happening. And we were shocked that it was, you know, this was even worse than we thought. And so we said, well, that seems like really radical.

And we said, honestly, we don't understand how you're going to control and ban open source AI because it's just math and code on the internet. And, like, how are you possibly going to control it? And the response was, we classified entire areas of physics during the Cold War. And if we need to do that for math, for AI going forward, we'll do that, too.

And we said, honestly, we don't understand how you're going to control and ban open source AI because it's just math and code on the internet. And, like, how are you possibly going to control it? And the response was, we classified entire areas of physics during the Cold War. And if we need to do that for math, for AI going forward, we'll do that, too.

Yeah, but national security is also the death of democracy. And maybe I'll give the devil his due here. Like, I believe in their view they really think they're defending democracy. I mean, they're trying to strangle it to death in the name of defending it.

Yeah, but national security is also the death of democracy. And maybe I'll give the devil his due here. Like, I believe in their view they really think they're defending democracy. I mean, they're trying to strangle it to death in the name of defending it.