The year of tech tribalism

Hi folks, it’s Brad in San Francisco. Silicon Valley is ending 2023 beset by tribalism and partisanship. But first...Three things you need t [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( [by Brad Stone]( Hi folks, it’s Brad in San Francisco. Silicon Valley is ending 2023 beset by tribalism and partisanship. But first... Three things you need to know today: • China’s iPhone [ban accelerated]( • Rocket Lab resumed [launches after a failure]( • Weibo asked users to [stop criticizing China’s economy]( Whose side are you on? Over the next two weeks, we’ll be using this space in the newsletter to reflect on tech’s wild ride in 2023, an eventful year that brought the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, the conviction of Sam Bankman-Fried, the rise of generative artificial intelligence and chaos surrounding its most notable company, OpenAI Inc. The year in tech also delivered something else that’s unusual: high levels of tribalism and partisanship. The industry is finishing 2023 as a house divided against itself, separating into a variety of competing camps and bickering loudly over a range of issues. Which team are you on? Fighting the woke mind virus or the far-right infestation? An [e/acc]( (effective accelerationist) who wants to hasten the development of planet-saving AI or their avowed adversary, the [effective altruists]( who want to slow it down to protect humanity? Pro-Israel or pro-Palestine? Pro- or anti-DEI? Team San Francisco or Team LA, Austin or Miami? Silicon Valley used to be a discreet place. People kept their allegiances to themselves. Dogmatic disputes mostly revolved around whether a certain company was overvalued or around rivalries between flashy chief executives with competing egos. Now the old fights over the virtues of proprietary and open-source software, or Windows and Mac, seem rather quaint. This year tech leaders went to battle in boardrooms and on social media. Elon Musk acquired the company formerly known as Twitter, then [platformed]( former Fox News broadcaster Tucker Carlson (who just appeared on [the popular tech podcast All-In]() and right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. The founder of the giant European conference [Web Summit resigned]( for expressing anti-Israel views. Sam Altman was fired from OpenAI, in part for [not heeding concerns]( from the effective altruists on his nonprofit board, before winning his job back and ousting two opposing directors. The increased visibility of politics in tech probably started with the election of Donald Trump in 2016 and the protests around his immigration policies, which were joined by tech bosses [like Sergey Brin](. Partisanship surged again after the 2021 murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, when [tech workers marched]( out of their offices en masse and implored their bosses to improve diversity and inclusion efforts. This year, though, everything got louder, uglier and more strident. Consider a few stark examples of how dramatically things have changed. In 2011 venture capitalist Marc Andreessen published his famous essay, “[Why Software Is Eating the World](.” It was a thoughtful and inclusive call for better education and more technology entrepreneurs. This fall Andreessen penned another essay: “[The Techno-Optimists Manifesto](.” Rambling, [Randian]( and weirdly defensive, it has a section called “The Enemy,” frames sustainability, ESG, social responsibility and tech ethics as “against technology and against life” and hits at “the ivory tower, the know-it-all credentialed expert worldview, indulging in abstract theories, luxury beliefs, social engineering, disconnected from the real world, delusional, unelected and unaccountable.” The best illustration of the (d)evolution of tech leaders into acrimony and partisanship is Musk. Here’s one juxtaposition that sticks out: In 2012 he gave [a famous interview to 60 Minutes]( and got emotional when asked how he felt about NASA astronauts like Neil Armstrong criticizing Space Exploration Technologies Corp. He “was very sad to see that,” Musk said, tearing up. “Those guys are heroes of mine. It’s really tough.” At last month’s New York Times Dealbook conference, [Musk was again confronted about critics]( — this time, advertisers who pulled their ads from his social network X, some after Musk agreed with a post that said Jewish people have a “dialectical hatred” of White people. “Go f--- yourself,” he responded this time. Tech leaders have been in the crosshairs of politicians and activists for years. They’ve become safe, recurring antagonists in TV shows and movies, [appearing as baddies]( in Succession, The Morning Show, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, the last installment of the detective series Monk and many more. So maybe they’ve had enough of all the slings and arrows — maybe it’s the backlash against the techlash? “The aggrieved billionaire is a new entrant in the Silicon Valley pantheon,” said Margaret O’Mara, [an author]( and professor of American history at the University of Washington. It’s not just the tech elite. There’s been a slide into extremism among those who oppose them — a perfect mirror, in other words, of American society. Some tech criticism appeared to turn into outright obstructionism this year, like [the open letter](, signed by 33,000 researchers, activists and executives, that impractically called for a six-month pause in the training of powerful AI systems. (Even Musk disingenuously signed it, as he was developing his own generative AI startup and Tesla Inc.’s Autopilot AI.) Celebrated whistleblowers who exposed corporate violations of privacy and the prioritization of profits over public safety now seem to be part of a cottage industry of pearl clutchers who confront tech companies over every issue. Bad faith isn’t the exclusive province of one side in any of these ideological firefights. The industry’s main concern used to be technological progress. With all the astounding advancements in AI of the past year, it seems like we’re getting there. If only everyone would stop yelling at each other. —[Brad Stone](mailto:bstone12@bloomberg.net) The big story The stock market this year was all about Nvidia, AI stocks and lofty valuations. The Nasdaq 100 index is set for its [best year in over a decade](. One to watch [Watch the Bloomberg Technology TV analysis]( of tech stocks. Get fully charged A tech-linked group is seeking to track [anti-Asian discrimination at work](. Google and Meta said the largest China-based [disinformation campaign ever is underway](. An Indian AI startup started by a founder of the ride-hailing company Ola introduced the country’s [first multilingual large-language model](. A new strategy for Sony’s Playstation apparently involves [giving away big game updates for free](. Look back at 2023 Apple made major progress on a no-prick blood [glucose monitor for the Apple Watch](. Elizabeth Holmes objected to a proposal to pay [$250 a month to Theranos victims](. Meta asked many managers to get back to [making things or leave](. More from Bloomberg Get Bloomberg Tech weeklies in your inbox: - [Cyber Bulletin]( for coverage of the shadow world of hackers and cyber-espionage - [Game On]( for reporting on the video game business - [Power On]( for Apple scoops, consumer tech news and more - [Screentime]( for a front-row seat to the collision of Hollywood and Silicon Valley - [Soundbite]( for reporting on podcasting, the music industry and audio trends - [Q&AI]( for answers to all your questions about AI Follow Us Like getting this newsletter? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com]( for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights. Want to sponsor this newsletter? [Get in touch here](. You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Tech Daily newsletter. If a friend forwarded you this message, [sign up here]( to get it in your inbox. [Unsubscribe]( [Bloomberg.com]( [Contact Us]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10022 [Ads Powered By Liveintent]( [Ad Choices](