Designer Jony Ive and OpenAI’s Sam Altman Discuss AI Hardware ProjectRead more

Art by Clark Miller.
Art by Clark Miller.

‘I Don’t Think There’s Anything Foolish About Blitzscaling’: Reid Hoffman Regrets Nothing—Except Maybe Those SPACs


A sit-down with the Valley’s quintessential connector as he preps for the midterms and plays around with Dall-e.

Aug. 19, 2022 12:00 PM PDT

It's check-writing season for Reid Hoffman, and not just for his two venture capital firms, two special purpose acquisition corporations, two podcasts, six startup boards or any of the other extracurricular activities that keep him stupendously busy. (I counted one real job—at Greylock Partners—and 15 side hustles, which he confirmed.)

Hoffman, the LinkedIn founder and Democratic superdonor, has been giving prolifically to politicians on both sides of the aisle this election cycle. (A Federal Election Commission database lists no fewer than 190 campaign contributions by Hoffman in 2022.) When we spoke by video call last week, he was waiting to see if two Republicans he had supported with midterm cash, Liz Cheney and Lisa Murkowski, would make it out of their GOP primaries. Murkowski squeaked by; Cheney lost in a landslide.

Outside-the-box advocacy isn’t new for Hoffman: He wrote a check for Emmanuel Macron’s presidential campaign when he learned that non–French citizens could do so. But at the root of most of Hoffman’s political activity these days is an outright disdain for one person: Donald Trump, whom he terms “a Chernobyl…within the U.S. system.” Speaking from his home near Seattle, he told me he’d readily contribute to a Cheney campaign for president if she asked. “While I disagree with many of Liz Cheney’s ideas on where we should go as a society,” he said, “I recognize her as a modern American hero.”

Access on the go
View stories on our mobile app and tune into our weekly podcast.
Join live video Q&A’s
Deep-dive into topics like startups and autonomous vehicles with our top reporters and other executives.
Enjoy a clutter-free experience
Read without any banner ads.
Former Apple design chief Jony Ive and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Photos by Getty.
Exclusive
Designer Jony Ive and OpenAI’s Sam Altman Discuss AI Hardware Project
Jony Ive, the renowned designer of the iPhone, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman have been discussing building a new AI hardware device, according to two people familiar with the conversations.
From left to right: Blair Effron, Robert Pruzan and David Handler. Photos by Getty; Tidal Partners.
Exclusive Finance
Disputes, Employee Misconduct Rattle Centerview’s Silicon Valley Dreams
The San Francisco Bay Area–based bankers at Centerview Partners, the investment bank that advised Silicon Valley Bank’s owner and Credit Suisse through recent turmoil, got two doses of bad news last week.
Art by Clark Miller
Exclusive startups entertainment
MasterClass Takes a Crash Course in Frugality
MasterClass had a problem with the shoot featuring its latest star instructor, Walt Disney Co. CEO Bob Iger.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Photos via Getty
Exclusive microsoft ai
How Microsoft is Trying to Lessen Its Addiction to OpenAI as AI Costs Soar
Microsoft’s push to put artificial intelligence into its software has hinged almost entirely on OpenAI , the startup Microsoft funded in exchange for the right to use its cutting-edge technology.
Art by Clark Miller
The Big Read policy
Europe Has Figured Out How to Tame Big Tech. Can the U.S. Learn Its Tricks?
Late last month in Belgium, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) had a pressing question for Paul Tang, a Dutch politician and member of the European Parliament.
If AI researchers can meet Nat Friedman's Vesuvius Challenge, “It’ll be the first time we’ve read handwriting that hasn’t been seen in 2,000 years.” Art by Clark Miller
The AI Age culture ai
Nat Versus the Volcano: Can an AI Investor Solve an Ancient Mystery from the Ashes of Vesuvius?
Long before men’s daily thoughts about ancient Rome became a TikTok meme , former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman’s mind was regularly turning toward the Roman Empire.