The photo of Silicon Valley centi-billionaires at Donald Trump’s inauguration – Musk, Bezos, and Zuckerberg, front row and side by side – now looks like a hitlist for a blue Congress hellbent on making life difficult for billionaires.
asserted
life → look → billionaires
The picture symbolized at the time the bending of the knee by the richest men in the world to its most powerful, a symbiosis of the ultra-rich.
asserted
picture → symbolize → rich
Already unfathomably wealthy, Silicon Valley tycoons believed a Maga-sized public shift to the right would enrich them even more.
asserted
shift → believe → them
It did.
asserted
It → do → ?
For several years, while Trump seemed an everlasting kingmaker and AI’s expansion seemed unstoppable, their fortunes ballooned to values beyond comprehension.
asserted
fortunes → seem → comprehension
Elon Musk’s surpassed $1tn.
asserted
Musk → surpass → 1tn
In the harsh blue light of Tuesday’s midterms, though, going all-in on Maga seems an unwisely unhedged bet.
asserted
going → go → Maga
Democrats took decisive control of the US Congress, flipping seats right and left that in previous years seemed like given wins for Republicans.
asserted
that → take → Republicans
Governors’ mansions across the country likewise lit up blue as Democrats ascended even in the reddest of states, such as Texas.
asserted
Democrats → light → Texas
Voters concerned about corruption expressed their displeasure at oligarchs’ blatant attempts to create a political environment to their liking.
asserted
Voters → concern → liking
Voting against technocrats drove people into the hands of Democrats and away from Republicans.
asserted
Voting → vote → Republicans
Tech oligarchs themselves, along with anger over the AI boom, datacenters and Flock surveillance cameras, shifted the tides.
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oligarchs → shift → tides
“Voters rejected Republicans in part because they were bought and paid for by AI billionaires.
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they → reject → billionaires
Democrats must hold them accountable instead of cashing their checks,” wrote Texas Democratic representative Greg Casar.
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Casar → hold → checks
Georgia Democrat Jon Ossoff, who won re-election to the Senate, summed up the prevailing attitude towards the tech industry in his victory speech.
“The titans of Silicon Valley dig bunkers for themselves and warn that the artificial intelligence they’re creating risks human extinction,” he said.
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he → win → extinction
He pledged to bring “big tech to heel”.
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He → pledge → heel
Ed Markey, a Democratic senator from Massachusetts, tweeted late on Tuesday: “They are going to need to plant new forests for all of the subpoenas we’ll be printing.”
asserted
we → tweet → subpoenas
Democrats have both promised congressional investigations into tech companies and moratoriums on datacenters, which may hamstring compute-hungry AI companies.
uncertain
which → promise → companies
In the past year, the major AI firms have been competing in a fierce race to buy or build massive, noisy, resource-intensive facilities full of semiconductor chips that will supply their growing needs for computing power.
asserted
that → compete → power
Americans hate them.
asserted
Americans → hate → them
Democrats stand firmly in the way of that arms race.
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Democrats → stand → race
Democrats took governors’ mansions by promising to institute moratoriums on hyperscale datacenter construction.
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Democrats → take → construction
Gina Hinojosa of Texas, Amy Acton of Ohio, and Keisha Lance Bottoms of Georgia have all pledged pauses.
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Hinojosa → pledge → pauses
Letters to preserve records for future investigations have already gone out to Nvidia and Amazon.
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Letters → preserve → Nvidia
Angry constituents want to see it penalized.
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it → want → ?
Elon Musk presents a meaty target as the billionaire most closely allied with the Trump administration and the richest man in the world.
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Musk → present → world
Investigating his conduct with the “department of government efficiency”, which laid waste to the humanitarian agency USAID and wide swaths of the US government, will be a political lay-up for Democrats newly in control and desiring a public spectacle.
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which → investigate → spectacle
Musk had the worst night of anyone but Trump on Tuesday.
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Musk → have → Tuesday
The world’s richest man gave $450m in support of Republican candidates, most of all to Ken Paxton in Texas, but he reaped little, if any, reward.
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he → give → reward
Paxton lost by a major margin.
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Paxton → lose → margin
Musk remained silent for some eight hours as results poured in, each piece of news more disastrous for his right-wing project than the last.
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piece → remain → last
In what seemed like capitulation, he deleted a Tuesday tweet that read: “Vote red today!”
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that → seem → tweet
By Wednesday morning, the SpaceX CEO wanted off the planet.
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CEO → want → planet
“Datacenters in space are looking pretty good right now,” he wrote.
asserted
he → look → space
He may not get the chance to set up his orbital computers.
uncertain
He → get → computers
Democrats may likewise investigate or attempt to unwind the multibillion dollar merger of SpaceX and Musk’s AI company, xAI, which makes the Nazi-friendly nudification bot Grok.
uncertain
which → investigate → bot
xAI has a $200m contract with the US military, which likewise seems like an easy win for Democrats to meddle with.
asserted
Democrats → have → win
Mark Zuckerberg may feel deja vu when he finds himself sitting across the table from an inquisition, as he repeatedly did at the end of the 2010s.
uncertain
he → feel → 2010s
The Meta CEO made a nakedly political pivot under Trump 2.0 with his shift to the right.
asserted
CEO → make → right
He appeared at Mar-a-Lago to show off Meta’s camera-equipped glasses to Trump and axed his company’s vaunted diversity, equity, and inclusion program as the president waged war on DEI.
asserted
president → appear → DEI
…and 11 more, not listed.
The Aporia
