Explainer on the "PayPal Mafia" — the former PayPal founders and managers, including Peter Thiel, Elon Musk and David Sacks, who went on to start or back companies such as Tesla, LinkedIn, YouTube, SpaceX and Palantir. The article traces the term to Fortune's 2007 cover story and PayPal's $1.5 billion sale to eBay in 2002, then describes the group's influence in the Trump administration — including the Department of Government Efficiency and the cryptocurrency and AI czar role — and its push for lighter tech regulation and pro-crypto policy.
All About Circuits profile of William Shockley, the Nobel-winning co-inventor of the transistor whose company helped start Silicon Valley, and whose later promotion of eugenics damaged his reputation. The site blocked an automated check, so this description is based on the title and page address.
Official site for The Technological Republic by Palantir co-founder Alexander C. Karp and Nicholas W. Zamiska, arguing that Silicon Valley abandoned work of national consequence. The site is free to browse and lists press coverage and every retailer.
Why I recommend it: The site is free; the book is not — it is sold in hardcover, ebook and audio, so borrow it from a library if you can. Read it as an argument from a man whose company sells software to defense and intelligence agencies, because the book is making the case for that industry.
Émile P. Torres's weekly newsletter examining the ideologies driving Silicon Valley — effective altruism, longtermism, TESCREAL, and the race to build artificial superintelligence — from a critical, insider-turned-skeptic perspective.
From the site: Stop doomscrolling and just read this! Click to read Realtime Techpocalypse Newsletter, by Émile P. Torres, a Substack publication with thousands of subscribers.
Reporting on the political ideology and ambitions of Silicon Valley's power brokers.
In plain terms: This publication offers investigative reporting on the political ideologies and ambitions of powerful technology leaders. You can read articles and analysis to understand how tech industry figures influence government and democracy.
From the site: Silicon Valley tech billionaire politics: authoritarianism, fascism, plutocracy, weirdness
Why I recommend it: Context on who is funding what — helpful when you vet a potential employer.
