Reid Hoffman

We in Silicon Valley can’t bend the knee to Trump. We can’t shrink away and hope the crisis fades.

Hope without action is not a strategy –– it’s an invitation for Trump to trample whatever he can see.

More: sfstandard.com/opinion/2026...

The America we love will survive the current authoritarian push (not to say putsch) only if enough of us — especially those of us fortunate enough to be in positions of leadership and influence — choose to condemn it, and loudly.

I’ve been encouraged in recent days that more Silicon Valley leaders have spoken out to condemn the Minneapolis killings and the policy choices that led to them. It’s a good start to something America needs much more of right now.

Whichever candidates you may have supported in the past — or even if (like many of my friends in Silicon Valley) you don’t usually do politics — you almost surely did not vote for heavily armed, poorly trained, masked federal troops wreaking havoc in our communities.

My writing today in the @sfstandard.com: Too many Silicon Valley leaders have divested themselves of the responsibility to speak out against the Trump administration.

We can’t shrink away and hope the crisis fades.

It’s time for all of us in tech to do and say more.

The Epstein Files must be released, in full.

Tonight, I supported World Without Exploitation to run this ad on Monday Night Football, calling for exactly that.

I care deeply about getting to the truth.

I just care about getting to the truth. And I care about America.

I refuse to bend the knee to Donald Trump and his slanderous lies.

I will do everything in my power going forward to advocate for the release of the files, to get justice for Epstein’s victims, and to promote the values of truth our great country was founded on.

The call for an investigation is an obvious ploy to avoid releasing the files.

Simply release all the files, and expose the people who had both deep and ongoing relationships with Epstein.

I want this complete release because it will show that the calls for baseless investigations of me are nothing more than political persecution and slander.

I was never a client of Epstein’s and never had any engagement with him other than fundraising for MIT.

I want this complete release because it will bring justice for the victims.

Trump should release all of the Epstein files: every person and every document in the files.

You bet I do

Our obligation as technologists is to build and fund things that can make the future better than the present. That is more true today than ever before.

"If we truly want a merit-based economy, the starting point is to value all skills." - Byron Auguste

Congratulations to Byron Auguste for being named a 2025 Heinz Award winner. He and the Opportunity@Work team are reshaping the labor market.

1/ I recently listened to David Autor on @reidhoffman.bsky.social's podcast and really enjoyed it. It got me thinking about how we've adapted to past technological shifts and why we need to think differently about adaptation with AI. A few thoughts in this thread🧵

Good framework.

Take driverless vehicles, for example.

The goal isn’t to launch a car that never gets into an accident. It's to launch a car that is safer on the road than one driven by a human (we’re already there).

And as we evaluate these tools, we must remember: the benchmark isn’t perfection or zero errors, it's fewer errors than we would have made without the tech in the loop.

Our job, as citizens, entrepreneurs, and leaders, is to ensure we’re accelerating toward the kind of future we actually want to live in.

Whether AI serves to uplift billions or exploit them, whether biotech heals or divides, whether platforms connect or polarize, all of that depends on how we shape the systems around them.

As the former President reminded us, science and technology are tools. They are amplifiers of human will, not substitutes for it.

“Science, like all technology, has no conscience of its own. Whether it will become a force for good or ill depends on man.” - JFK

Sometimes tech critics lose sight of this, treating technology itself as inherently bad. That’s when society starts surrendering its agency instead of exercising it

Unfortunately, I agree with you –– but hopefully it will change as more people make the right arguments for how AI can be an extremely positive force..

One of the people tagged in the post below came to the US on a graduate student visa. Countless iconic American companies have been founded and fueled by those who started their journey the same way.

Science Friday Natural Sciences Podcast · Updated Daily · Covering the outer reaches of space to the tiniest microbes in our bodies, Science Friday is the source for entertaining and educational stories about scienc...

The first episode features Nobel Laureate
@kkariko.bsky.social's story of determination in the face of naysayers:

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s...

Recommend listening to The Leap, a terrific new podcast about the scientists who are taking risks in pursuit of something huge.

It's a great show about discovery, conviction, and adaptation –– Produced by Hypothesis Fund & weekly on @scifri.bsky.social

It is his real profile!