Especially for those who like to promote cryptocurrencies and autonomous killers.

Author: Shu Yang, Treasure Good Business

The news of Trump's selection of JD Vance as the vice presidential candidate undoubtedly caused a stir in Silicon Valley. This former "Never Trump" figure, how did he transform into a trusted assistant to Trump? And how will this alliance affect the future of Silicon Valley, especially those enterprises closely related to high technology, cryptocurrencies, and defense technology?

This article delves into the relationship between Vance and some of the most controversial billionaires in Silicon Valley, especially his connection with Peter Thiel. From Mithril Capital to Narya Capital, from huge profits from Bitcoin to the influence on cryptocurrency policies, Vance's political career seems to be closely linked to certain forces in Silicon Valley.

As 2024 approaches, the cooperation between Trump and Vance may have far-reaching implications for Silicon Valley. This is not just about tax and regulation issues, but also involves the formulation of technology policies, and even the redefinition of personal privacy and national security.

Usually, I wouldn't spend too much time thinking about Trump's choice of JD Vance as a running mate. When faced with an openly "poop sandwich," people usually don't get too caught up in choosing the type of bread.

But considering Vance's background as a technology investor and his close relationship with some of the industry's most unpopular cultural warriors, it's worth taking a few minutes to step back from the chaos and frustration of reality and think about what this decision might mean for Silicon Valley.

It depends on which Silicon Valley we are talking about: the traditional, nerdy Silicon Valley of HP, Google, and Facebook, or the recent version represented by cryptocurrency scammers, eyeball-scanning AI weirdos, and autonomous killers.

If you're referring to the first type of Silicon Valley, then the Trump-Vance combination may be a mixed bag. Both Trump and Vance have criticized the "big tech" for censoring conservative voices, and Vance has explicitly called for the repeal of legal protections for large social networks to operate under Section 230.

But if you're a fan of the second type of Silicon Valley—the kind that likes to promote cryptocurrencies and autonomous killers—then Vance's prospects of entering the White House might be like all your Christmases coming at once.

This is because Vance is not just a friend of Silicon Valley's worst billionaires; he is created by them. Billionaire tech investor and digital defense contractor Peter Thiel paved the way for his entire political career.

It was Thiel who hired Vance to work at his Mithril Capital in 2017 (Mithril is a type of metal in "The Hobbit"), and later invested heavily in Vance's Narya Capital fund (Narya is a ring in "The Lord of the Rings"). Thiel then donated over $15 million to Vance's Senate campaign and personally took Vance to Mar-a-Lago to mend his previous "Never Trump" stance.

Before Thiel announced his temporary retirement from democracy, he introduced Vance to his old PayPal mafia colleague David Sacks. Sacks immediately donated $1 million to the super PAC supporting Vance and hosted fundraising events for him. Sacks and Vance later organized Trump's only fundraising event in San Francisco, aimed at pushing the candidate to further accept and relax regulations on cryptocurrencies. It is reported that Thiel made over $1.8 billion from Bitcoin and other currencies.

Of course, this wouldn't be the first time Thiel and his cohorts have attempted to buy oversized influence in Trump's legislative agenda. After all, it was Thiel who, a week after the 2016 election, saved Trump's campaign with a $1.25 million donation, clearly hoping to gain influence in the future government.

It turned out to be a rare misjudgment for Thiel. Despite all the buzz around Truth Social, Trump may be the least tech-savvy president in our lifetime. It is well known that he does not use email and relies on aides to print websites for him. He is also the laziest president since George W. Bush. Teamed up with the almost anti-feminist Vice President Mike Pence, whose first government gave Thiel and his tech friends a bunch of tax breaks and some humiliating photo ops. In 2023, a clearly frustrated Thiel said the Trump administration "[C]ouldn't get the most basic pieces of the government to work. … I think that part was maybe worse than even my low expectations." Not the same mistake twice

Fast forward to 2024, Thiel will not make the same mistake again. Last time he only donated funds to Trump's White House campaign, this time he donated to the entire candidate.

This candidate will have broad authorization to give his former boss anything he wants. Trump has made it clear that he intends to spend a lot of time in his second term pursuing petty grievances, imprisoning his opponents, and destroying NATO. So, just as Bush was happy to let former Halliburton executive Dick Cheney plan America's wars, Vance will be able to set White House technology policy for his Silicon Valley benefactors—a technology policy that coincidentally may involve a lot of new military spending.

Thiel fancies himself a peacenik: the biggest applause line when he supported Trump at the 2016 Republican National Convention was "It's time to end the stupid wars and rebuild our country." But today he is probably best known as the co-founder of surveillance technology company Palantir (named after the crystal ball in "The Lord of the Rings"). The company manufactures intelligence collection tools for the CIA and NSA. More interestingly, it builds software that guides drones and artillery strikes to shorten the "kill chain" in global war zones.

Thiel is also a major investor in Anduril, a company founded by his protégé Palmer Luckey. Anduril (a sword in "The Lord of the Rings," because Dirty Valley apparently only read one book) manufactures drones that can kill people without human controllers. It also builds and operates sentry towers for the U.S. Border Patrol.

In the best case scenario, with Vance as Thiel's insider, Trump's second government will further benefit these companies and other portfolio companies, such as OpenAI, Neuralink, and SpaceX.

In the worst case scenario?

Let's note that after the terrifying assassination attempt at Trump's Pennsylvania rally, it was Vance—who almost immediately, before any information about the gunman was available—who made a disgustingly sarcastic statement, blaming the Biden campaign team's rhetoric.

Trump has not hidden his stance on the Constitution (it should be "terminated") and espionage against American citizens (he famously encouraged Russian hackers to attack Hillary Clinton's emails). Vance has also pledged allegiance to Trump's illegal actions, boasting that he would vote to overturn the 2020 election. Vance and Trump are also proud advocates of the libertarian slogan "your laws, not mine": Vance's proposal to cut protections under Section 230 specifically exempted his Rumble platform and other small companies. (Again, the apple doesn't fall far from the hypocritical tree: Thiel is an open libertarian who builds surveillance technology for the government, reportedly acts as an FBI informant, and shares information about "political corruption" and "Silicon Valley conspiracies.")

In the past, you had to be a conspiracy theorist to believe that a president and vice president might consider using technology manufactured by companies of their donors to surveil and defame political enemies. When it comes to Trump, you have to be an idiot to believe they wouldn't.

I'm not just talking about enemies like President Biden and Clinton. I mean any group that Trump, Vance, and their supporters have sworn to go after, including women, transgender children, liberals, judges, juries, the FBI, executives of social networks not on Rumble, immigrants, and librarians. If, as statistically likely, you are a member of one or more of these groups, you might want to consider completely disconnecting from the internet for the next four years or so.

However, now is the time for Silicon Valley war profiteers. With four years of Trump and Vance, the party will only get crazier.

Paul Bradley Carr has been writing about Silicon Valley for 25 years. His next book, "Confessions," will be published by Atria next year.

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