Inside the techno-optimist cult influencing OpenAI’s Sam Altman
If the Control Altman Delete and Undo saga demonstrated anything it was the tussle between AI evangelists and those who argue for regulation.
Whilst it is still unclear exactly what prompted OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman’s sacking in the first place, it appears to have stemmed from a fear about lack of regulation and a suspicion Altman was moving too quickly without putting checks in place.
Altman’s exact views haven’t been made clear, but he has previously expressed support for a movement known as techno optimism, sometimes also known as e/acc (effective accelerationism). In 2022 he opined: “Techno-optimism is the only good solution to our current problems. Unfortunately, somehow expressing optimism about the future has become a radical act.”
This is a coded jibe at so-called “decels” – pro AI regulators (of whom President Biden and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak now count amongst the ranks) and alternative Silicon Valley cult the effective altruists (acronym also EA) who fret about the danger of unregulated AI and even invest in solutions for hypothetical catastrophes. In fact, the two women who are now no longer part of the OpenAI board were associated with the effective altruist movement.
The general trend seems to be that software developers and tech nerds who develop AI er on the side of regulation. Entrepreneurs gun for progress at any cost (assuming it comes with boosted profit).
The most extreme version of this techno-optimist, effective accelerationist ideology can be seen in a corner of the internet dominated by ultra-wealthy tech entrepreneurs who espouse capital letters and embrace anarcho-capitalism. They view themselves as disruptors in the ‘move fast and break things’ vein. They view regulation as anti capitalist. They worship the philosopher Ayn Rand who believes that self-interest is good and altruism is always bad.
E/acc grew out of accelerationism – an ideology created by British academic Nick Land out of the University of Warwick’s infamous Cybernetic Culture Research Unit (also a haunt of Mark Fisher). Accelerationism believes technology and capitalism must be sped up either because this is for the good of humanity or because such progress is inevitable.
On 16 October Silicon Valley entrepreneur Marc Andreessen, whose bio on X reads “Techno-optimist. E/acc. Pro AI, and open for business” published the Techno Optimist Manifesto. It was greeted with enthusiasm by the likes of Brian Armstrong, founder of Coinbase, and a host of other influential ‘tech bros’.
Word cloud of the az16 Techno Optimist Manifesto
The founder of this apparently founders-less movement is ostensibly an anonymously-owned Twitter/X account @BasedBeffJezos. Descended from British philosopher Nick Land’s concept of accelerationism – the belief that computer tech must be advanced as quickly as possible at all costs – effective accelerationism hits out at effective altruism, the other tech bro cult symbolised by Sam Bankman-Fried.
E/accs fundamentally disagree with effective altruists who – amongst many other goals – fret about the existential dangers of technology and have become consumed with infighting about how much money to commit to preventing future AI and tech-generated catastrophes.
@BasedBeffJezos describes the ideology thus: “e/acc is simply a viral memetic metacognitive hack to cybernetically control the civilizational meta-organism to hyperstitiously induce an acceleration of its own growth and thereby produce massive widespread prosperity and cosmic hyperproliferation of intelligence as a whole”. The account recently described AI regulation as totalitarian.
E/accs by contrast want the unhindered development of technology.
This fringe group of “extremely wealthy financiers… in favour of unconstrained profit-seeking”, as tech analyst Joseph Teasdale put it, do however have significant influence. Not least because amongst their count include Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, and Andreessen, who is the co-founder of a $35bn venture capital firm az16.
So what do they believe? That people are “being lied to” about technology’s potential dangers. “We are told that technology takes our jobs, reduces our wages, increases inequality, threatens our health, ruins the environment, degrades our society, corrupts our children, impairs our humanity, threatens our future, and is ever on the verge of ruining everything,” goes the manifesto.
Technology can also solve all of humanity’s problems: “We believe that there is no material problem – whether created by nature or by technology – that cannot be solved with more technology.”
E/accs believe in totally unfettered capitalism, specifically free markets in the style proposed by Freidrich Hayek. “Markets prevent monopolies and cartels” and “centralisation will starve you to death”.
“We believe the market economy is a discovery machine, a form of intelligence – an exploratory, evolutionary, adaptive system.”
They believe humans must become “technological supermen” and that it is almost a moral imperative to develop, for example, AI. “We believe that we are, have been, and will always be the masters of technology, not mastered by technology. Victim mentality is a curse in every domain of life, including in our relationship with technology – both unnecessary and self-defeating. We are not victims, we are conquerors.”
All this might seem totally unhinged but it’s undeniable that Marc Andreessen wields a lot of power. He has 1.3m Twitter followers and is at the helm of a VC fund that invests in firms like Instagram.
Plus, politicians listen to this influential group – the UK, governed by tech bro SV wannabee Rishi Sunak, has decided to refrain from passing any specific regulation on AI after the AI Safety Summit in order to promote innovation. That said, the EU has recently taken a more “muscular” approach.
The e/accs promote a dream that is appealing to the little boy in men. Just glance at the below, another quote from Andreessen’s manifesto:
“We believe in the romance of technology, of industry. The eros of the train, the car, the electric light, the skyscraper. And the microchip, the neural network, the rocket, the split atom.
We believe in adventure. Undertaking the Hero’s Journey, rebelling against the status quo, mapping uncharted territory, conquering dragons, and bringing home the spoils for our community.”
The belief in this fantastical mission is ultimately more reminiscent of a young boy’s fantasy quest than any serious and effective – hah – way to develop ‘humanity’ in way that’s ‘beneficial’ for all.