Silicon Valley has a (serious) white supremacy problem

Written by: Aarthi Ramnath, Raghav Bikhchandani & Yash Budhwar

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Silicon Valley has a (serious) white supremacy problem

There has been lots of angst over Elon Musk’s affection for the Nazi salute—and all the blatant racism that comes with being a white South African bigot. But a private group chat—on AI policy, no less—shows that the rot is way deeper and scary.

First, meet Marc Andreessen: He kicked off his tech career in the first dot com boom—with a failed search engine called Netscape. But has since morphed into a big whale investor. In May 2024, his firm Andreessen Horowitz became the biggest VC firm in the world. It manages $42 billion in assets—and will add a further $20 billion this year. Of course, Marc is a Trump guy—but more low-key than his buddy Elon—whose acquisition of Twitter was partly funded by him (to protect free speech).

What Andreessen said: Screenshots of a private group chat—discussing diversity policies—show Andreessen in full ‘white supremacist’ flow:

The combination of DEI and immigration is politically lethal. When these two forms of discrimination combine, as they have for the last 60 years and on hyperdrive for the last decade, they systematically cut most of the children of the Trump voter base out of any realistic prospect of access to higher education and corporate America.

In case you have any doubts about who these ‘children of the Trump voter base’ are:

I was born in 1971 in Iowa and grew up in Wisconsin. My cohort of citizens was told that we just had to put up with this as a cost of prior American bigotry, even though the discrimination was now aimed at us. And for the most part we did. But the insanity of the last 8 years and particularly the summer of 2020 totally shredded that complacency. And so now my people are furious and not going to take it anymore. The universities are at ground zero of the counterattack since they are BOTH actively discriminating against us AND primary origin points and propagation vectors for this worldview and these policies. They declared war on 70% of the country and now they’re going to pay the price.

Well, who needs a pointy hood when you have a big bald pointy head.

Irony alert: Andreessen's partner Ben Horowitz is one of the rare VCs who is pro-DEI and publicly acknowledged African American underrepresentation in the Valley—so presumably not included in “my people.” Horowitz is known for creating a Black network that has “sponsored minority-geared events, meetings, and accelerator programs.”

Key point to note: These messages were shared on a policy group chat that included Trump officials. Its members are the AI elite of the Valley—including Meta’s chief AI scientist. What’s interesting is that the group was created back in 2023—to discuss ways to battle anti-immigration policies.

The fallout: Andreessen has since deleted his messages and exited the group. Unsurprisingly, none of the big bros in the Valley will say a word about or against him.

Why do we care? One of the group’s creators—now a White House policy adviser—Sriram Krishnan once said: “The chats provide venues to workshop those ideas before they’re shared on social media… functioning as ‘the memetic upstream of mainstream opinion.’” That’s just a fancy way of saying that members test the waters in the group—with the aim of normalising their views in public debate.

The big picture: Silicon Valley has long been considered a bastion of white liberalism—its ranks too diverse and too brown to be outright racist. But now the gloves of the white bros are off—as always with a desi enabler in the effing mix.

Reading list: Fortune and Washington Post (splainer gift link) report on the Andreessen messages—though never calling out their outright racism (this is just anti-diversity talk). Axios profiles our MAGA man Sriram Krishnan. Semafor has an important piece on how these private group chats dominated by powerful men are reshaping America—and the tech world.

Speaking of icky white men: Wall Street Journal got an exclusive peek at a letter sent by Donald Trump to his bud and pedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein—on his 50th birthday. This is what it looks like:

The letter bearing Trump’s name, which was reviewed by the Journal, is bawdy—like others in the album. It contains several lines of typewritten text framed by the outline of a naked woman, which appears to be hand-drawn with a heavy marker. A pair of small arcs denotes the woman’s breasts, and the future president’s signature is a squiggly “Donald” below her waist, mimicking pubic hair.

Wait, it gets worse:

It isn’t clear how the letter with Trump’s signature was prepared. Inside the outline of the naked woman was a typewritten note styled as an imaginary conversation between Trump and Epstein, written in the third person.

“Voice Over: There must be more to life than having everything,” the note began.

Donald: Yes, there is, but I won’t tell you what it is.

Jeffrey: Nor will I, since I also know what it is.

Donald: We have certain things in common, Jeffrey.

Jeffrey: Yes, we do, come to think of it.

Donald: Enigmas never age, have you noticed that?

Jeffrey: As a matter of fact, it was clear to me the last time I saw you.

Donald: A pal is a wonderful thing. Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret.

We have one word: Haw!

The bigger picture: The letter has leaked right when Trump is under extreme pressure from his own base for the Justice Department’s decision to shut down its Epstein investigation. This birthday greeting—which was among its files—explains why. Btw, many political experts think the MAGA obsession with Epstein may be the only thing that could bring Trump down. WSJ (splainer gift link) has the exclusive. The Guardian has more on Trump’s battle with his own bhakts.

The Bangalore stampede: Commission report blames RCB

The context: A planned victory parade for the Royal Challengers Bangalore’s IPL win in June sparked a stampede—when 200,000-300,000 fans rushed into the Chinnaswamy stadium—which can only accommodate 32,000. The toll: 11 deaths and 33 injured.

What happened now: The state government had appointed an independent commission—headed by former Karnataka High Court judge Justice Michael D’Cunha—to determine the cause of the stampede. That commission has now filed its report—-and basically blamed RCB. The franchise made a hasty announcement about the victory event at the stadium—without any preparations:

A huge crowd had gathered at the venue in response to the post made by the RCB on its official handle by way of two posts at 7.01 a.m. and 8 a.m. Though the general public were invited for the proposed event in large numbers, the details as to the manner of entry to the stadium was not specified even after the crowd surged at the stadium, and the crowd was not directed to the respective gates.

As a result, the crowds surged uncontrollably at some gates—causing the stampede.

Also named and blamed: The state police—whose security response was “inadequate and ineffective to meet the exigency.” Specifically, law enforcement did not open exit gates in time—“despite clear signs of overcrowding and rising risk.” The report also suggests “the design and structure of the stadium was unsuitable and unsafe” for largescale events.

The big picture: The report dovetails neatly into the Siddaramaiah government’s version of what went wrong—and blames its favoured scapegoats. The status report submitted by the state government to the Karnataka High Court says almost the exact same thing. And most conveniently, Deputy CM DK Shivakumar just announced plans for a 50-acre sports complex more than 2X the size of Chinnaswamy stadium.

Reading list: The Hindu has more on the commission report—while Indian Express has the details of the government’s status report. Compare and contrast.

China’s viral game fuels gender culture wars

In the wildly popular live-action video game—‘Revenge on Gold Diggers’—the user plays the role of a man seeking vengeance on a woman who scammed him. It has sparked great kalesh in China.

The plot: goes something like this. A food delivery rider falls for a woman who tricks him into spending all his money before vanishing. The main character, Wu Yulun, becomes a rich businessman—and sets out to take down a criminal syndicate of women who scam lovelorn men for cash. Players guide Wu through eight hours of video content and 200 decision points in a storyline that’s interactive and cinematic.

A super duper hit: Since its release in June, the game has sold over a million copies—and has surpassed “the most successful Chinese game of all time." The game taps into widespread anxiety about “love scams”—which accounted for $279 million in losses in 2023. But it is also popular because it is appallingly sexist—feeding into every ‘men’s rights’ stereotype:

Sun Jing, a game scholar and associate professor at the Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, said the game was “clearly male-oriented” and also “reinforced prejudice against women” — showcasing women as “dominating, manipulative gold diggers” while portraying men as “innocent victims and brave avengers”.

The big picture: The game represents a flashpoint in the escalating gender wars in China. Women are opting out of marriage in a hurry: “Between 2013 and 2020, the marriage rate dropped by 40%, with [2024] marking the lowest percentage of marriages on record.” And that’s despite great bullying by Beijing—which is worried about a plunging birth rate. It has dropped by 68% since 1988.

Meanwhile, male commenters on community boards are calling the game “an elegy for our generation of Chinese men”—and urging men to “never retreat — this is a fight to the death.” See the problem?

Reading list: New York Times, BBC News and Channel News Asia all have reporting on the game. Indian Express has a good read on why Chinese women are saying no to marriage.

Feel good Friday alert: Meet Superdog Krypto

The best thing about the new ‘Superman’ film is Krypto the Superdog—his adorable foster dog who helps take down Lex Luthor. But his truly heroic feat is not on the big screen. Krypto also triggered a 500% surge in Google searches for dog adoptions. The most delightful nugget:

Indeed, Krypto is actually based on [director] James Gunn’s own rescue dog Ozu, who the director adopted while writing the film. As the story goes, Gunn was having trouble training the pup, and wondered how much worse things would be if Ozu had superpowers. And thus, Krypto joined the story.

As part of the film’s promotion, Warner Bros teamed up with Best Friends Animal Society to cover pet adoption fees. As you can see below, Ozu is a huge fan of himself lol! (The Wrap)

Speaking of superdogs: Dali, the lab, is every bit a great painter as her namesake. Her artwork has helped raise Rs 35,000 towards the care of abandoned strays. We are quite fond of her abstract masterpiece ‘The Midnight in the Garden’—which you can see below. (Indian Express)

what caught our eye

business & tech

Elon Musk is now teasing a moody, dark-haired AI anime boyfriend—modeled after Edward Cullen and Christian Grey—just days after launching Grok’s clingy “AI waifu” companion.
Professors at India’s Master’s Union can now earn royalties when their AI avatars teach online—just like musicians get paid per stream.
Disney has sued Hong Kong’s Red Earth Group for selling illegal Mickey Mouse jewellery, accusing the company of violating trademark rights and tricking buyers into thinking it’s official merchandise.
Forget plagiarising text. According to an NPR exclusive, AI can help you copy/paste other people’s vids and pass them off as yours.
OpenAI has launched a new ChatGPT agent that can do things like shop online, fill out spreadsheets, and make presentations—using the internet just like a human and handling more complex tasks with its new research tools.

sports & entertainment

CBS has announced it will cancel ‘The Late Show With Stephen Colbert’ after next season—ending the top-rated late-night show and a 30-year-old franchise in what the network says is “a purely financial decision.”
Tunisian superstar Ons Jabeur is stepping away from tennis for a while—saying she’s been struggling with injuries and unhappiness on court, and now just wants to breathe, heal, and find joy in life again.
Christopher Nolan’s upcoming film ‘The Odyssey’ has made waves by opening ticket sales a full year ahead of release—and IMAX shows at Universal CityWalk were almost sold out within minutes.
RIP Connie Francis—the ’50s and ’60s pop icon behind hits like “Stupid Cupid” and the now-TikTok-viral “Pretty Little Baby”—has died at 87.
Aanand L Rai is furious that Eros is re-releasing ‘Raanjhanaa’ with an AI-generated ending—accusing them of “butchering” his film.

health & environment

Brazil’s Congress has passed what activists are calling the “devastation bill”—a law that guts key environmental protections, despite protests from over 350 groups; it now awaits President Lula’s decision.
Trump says Coca-Cola has agreed to switch to real cane sugar in its US drinks—a move he calls “just better.”
Scientists used AI to reanalyse an old Alzheimer’s drug trial—and found the drug slowed cognitive decline by 46% in patients with early, slow-progressing symptoms, raising hopes for faster, more targeted and cheaper treatments.

meanwhile, in the world

Trump reportedly backed off from launching a second wave of strikes on Iran last month after learning that the first round of missile attacks barely damaged two of the three nuclear sites targeted.
Syria has announced a new ceasefire with Druze leaders after days of deadly clashes—but with Israeli strikes continuing and a top Druze cleric rejecting the deal, there’s little hope it will hold.
Trump says he’ll send one letter setting the same tariff rate for over 150 smaller countries—because, in his words, “they don’t do that much business.”
US lawmakers are pushing a new sanctions bill that could slap 500% tariffs on countries like India for buying Russian oil.
Torrential monsoon rains have wreaked havoc across Pakistan—killing at least 159 people since late June, with 63 deaths and nearly 300 injuries reported in just the past 24 hours in Punjab province alone.
Immigration judges are now withholding the names of ICE lawyers involved in deportation cases—an unusual and worrying move.

meanwhile, in India

The University of Southampton has opened its first international campus in Gurugram—making it the first foreign university to set up a full campus in India under the NEP 2020.
Despite high-level efforts to save Kerala nurse Nimisha Priya, the family of the Yemeni man she’s accused of killing continues to demand retribution as per local law.
The demolition of Satyajit Ray’s ancestral home in Mymensingh, Bangladesh, has been put on hold after a wave of public outrage.
More than five years after 70 Tablighi Jamaat members were accused of spreading COVID, the Delhi High Court has thrown out all charges in 16 cases linked to the incident.

Five things to see

One: A massive fire destroyed the main stage of Tomorrowland—the world’s biggest EDM festival—just a day before it was due to begin in Boom, Belgium. About 100,000 people are expected to attend—with many camping on the site. You can see how awful it was below. Mercifully, no one was injured. (The Guardian)

Two: Don’t wanna see ads—in the real world? A software engineer Stijn Spanhove has developed Snap’s Spectacle AR glasses to help you do just that. It “uses a combination of the Spectacles’ cameras and Google’s Gemini to identify an ad in your glasses and then slap a big blocker over them.” See the demo below. (Gizmodo)

Three: Chris Martin unintentionally outed Astronomer CEO Andy Byron’s alleged affair with his HR chief (whoops)—who were caught by the "kiss cam” (double whoops) at the Coldplay concert in the US. The singer—who did not know their identity—quipped: “Oh look at these two... either they’re having an affair or they’re very shy.” The crowd laughed, the internet went crazy—and divorce lawyers are rubbing their hands in glee. Both are married. Watch the viral vid below. (Hindustan Times)

Four: Luca Guadagnino’s back with a psychological thriller ‘After the Hunt’ with a star-studded cast that includes Julia Roberts, Ayo Edebiri, Andrew Garfield and Michael Stulbarg! Roberts plays a respected college professor who finds herself in a tough situation when her star student (Edebiri) accuses her colleague Garfield of inappropriate behaviour. The movie will drop on October 17. Watch the trailer below. (Deadline)

Five: Check out the trailer for Pixar’s upcoming animated feature ‘Hoppers’. The plot: “‘Hoppers’ are a group of scientists who have discovered a way to mind-hop into robot animal bodies.” So… James Cameron’s ‘Avatar’ but for kids? Sorta. The movie is slated to release on March 6. (Variety)