Tech Bros Are Embarrassed By Elon Musk - The Logical Leftist

[TexasTowelie]

“We’re all embarrassed by [Musk] at this point, but it’s just quiet muttering over lunch,” said one current Tesla employee.

“Not everyone in tech is supporting Elon Musk,” said Mark, a tech company founder who preferred not to use his last name. “It’s just that you don’t hear their side because they’re afraid to speak up.”

[highplainsdem]

1. Link to that Politico article below - and it's lower-level tech bros and smaller company founders that

Politico is reporting on:

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2025/04/04/elon-musk-silicon-valley-fear-00260273

The people at the very top are cozyjng up to Trump as much as they can. Tech titans like Zuckerberg, Altman and Bezos. Venture capitalists like Andreessen.

They're AI bros, too, which is why use of and involvement in generative AI in particular can be especially dangerous now. OpenAI and Google have already issued statements claiming it's important, even for national security, that AI be made exempt from copyright law, so their theft of all the intellectual property they could get their hands on will never be punished. There have been lower level employees speaking out against that theft, raising concerns as it was happening and pointing out it was against the law, but they're afraid of retaliation, and an OpenAI whistleblower set to testify against OpenAI in court died in very questionable circumstances last winter.

Some of the tech titans might think Musk is a huge embarrassment, but they're dreaming of not just billions but trillions in profit, and they obviously identified Trump as the candidate most likely to approve or forgive the theft of all that intellectual property. That's a huge lure for all in tech whose companies are built on that theft.

And if you're backing a president you hope will give some kind of legal approval to an intellectual property theft you say you need for various reasons, you're not in a strong position to complain if he talks about needing to take over Greenland, Canada and the Panama Canal. If your Silicon Valley motto has been "Move fast and break things'' then you're on thin ice criticizing DOGE or anything Trump does that he claims is breaking things to get to something more effective.

Those at the top of the tech industry are robber barons, and Trump is offering them a new Gilded Age. Their more ethical underlings are usually well paid, and they know how much they could lose if they speak out.