Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio News.
Speaker 2: Today on Bloomberg Technology, we're going to speak with Reid Hoffman.
Speaker 2: You perhaps know him best as the co founder of LinkedIn,
Speaker 2: but the billionaire and investor is also part of a
Speaker 2: group of Silicon Valley investors that are immersed in this
Speaker 2: presidential election, rallying behind his or their favorite candidate in
Speaker 2: the race, Kamala Harris. Reid Hoffman joins US now and
Speaker 2: read thank you for your time in coming on Bloomberg Technology.
Speaker 2: You know, the pitch in the plage was to keep
Speaker 2: this focused on tech. So I would like to ask
Speaker 2: you why is Kamala Harris the best candidate for the
Speaker 2: technology industry and benure capitalists around the US.
Speaker 3: Well, so, what the tech industry needs is kind of
Speaker 3: a stable environment in order to you know, kind of
Speaker 3: follow the rules and prosper in an ability because, by
Speaker 3: the way, one of the things that the tech industry
Speaker 3: brings to the US is a kind of a It's
Speaker 3: one of our most successful global industries where most of
Speaker 3: for example, the large tech companies get the vast majority
Speaker 3: of the revenues overseas, like the majority and depends on
Speaker 3: the business and so good global relations, in addition to
Speaker 3: stability and an ability to kind of know that you're
Speaker 3: following a rule of law versus what I think of
Speaker 3: as grifter or capitalism.
Speaker 1: All of that leads.
Speaker 3: To, like, you know, the reason why I and others
Speaker 3: like me support Vice President Harris for president because I
Speaker 3: think those are the more fundamental things. Then you know
Speaker 3: whether or not a corporate tax rate goes up or
Speaker 3: down a little. Obviously those can be important in other
Speaker 3: other times for business. But that's the reason why I
Speaker 3: think within the technology industry, I think it's a fairly
Speaker 3: clear choice.
Speaker 2: Read we recently had SEC check against on the program,
Speaker 2: and a part of the conversation for both candidates is
Speaker 2: continuity at the FTC and the You've actually spoken publicly,
Speaker 2: I think about both already, But what is your latest
Speaker 2: position on those two roles. Lena Kahn and Gary Gensler
Speaker 2: if Kamala Harris were to continue in the White House
Speaker 2: due to their impact on the technology industry.
Speaker 1: Well, let's see.
Speaker 3: So, first, since I've spoken, because I get asked a
Speaker 3: lot about Lena Cohn, I've spoken more about Lena Kahn.
Speaker 3: You know, one misconception to clear up is I've never
Speaker 3: ever talked to Kamala Harris or anyone in the White
Speaker 3: House about Lena kN for this. So this is entirely
Speaker 3: a press set of stories where I'm asked about my
Speaker 3: point of view, and I think she's done a very
Speaker 3: good job on a number of things, the anti compete
Speaker 3: stuff that click to cancel and subscriptions, a number of
Speaker 3: things on M and A. Speaking as a partner at
Speaker 3: Greyloc and as a Silicon Valley person who invests in
Speaker 3: companies trying to create the next generational large tech companies,
Speaker 3: her you know, kind of like waging war on M
Speaker 3: A is actually, in fact as unhelpful to the tech industry.
Speaker 3: It actually accomplishes something different than what she thinks she's accomplishing.
Speaker 3: She thinks she's trying to accomplish the you know, kind
Speaker 3: of the limitation of the growth of the large tech companies,
Speaker 3: and actually, in fact, she's causing a lack of funding
Speaker 3: for any of the companies that might potentially compete with them.
Speaker 3: And so that's a that's a different thing, and that's
Speaker 3: the that's the Lena Khan, which I still have the
Speaker 3: same point of view, and I've asked about it from
Speaker 3: anyone and from an.
Speaker 1: Expertise point of view.
Speaker 3: I will continue to say that Gary Gensler, I think
Speaker 3: the question, and I know Gary, I've talked to him
Speaker 3: from the MIT days, is how do you kind of
Speaker 3: shift kind of a kind of approach to crypto that's
Speaker 3: less kind of hit with stick and more of a
Speaker 3: here's the set.
Speaker 1: Of rules that we could set out that would.
Speaker 3: Create a beneficial technological investment that helps us position globally.
Speaker 3: And I think it's been uneven and so I would
Speaker 3: hope that, you know, Vice President Harris, who grew up
Speaker 3: within the California tech community, understands the importance of this
Speaker 3: kind of rule of law, you know, kind of equal
Speaker 3: basis innovation economy. She talked about, you know, kind of
Speaker 3: innovation opportunities. She's the only presidential candidate in US history
Speaker 3: who's spoken about the importance of founders. And so I
Speaker 3: hope that she would bring a kind of a more
Speaker 3: innovation forward point of view here. And you know, would
Speaker 3: anticipate that.
Speaker 4: An innovation forward perspective is that the key difference that
Speaker 4: you anticipate if hypothetically we had a Harris administration, a
Speaker 4: difference from the current Biden administration, or where else might
Speaker 4: she differ.
Speaker 3: Well, I think so she has always brought a certain
Speaker 3: you know talk to her over the years, and this
Speaker 3: intellectual curiosity to what's going on in the tech industry,
Speaker 3: how that can help everyday Americans, how that can help
Speaker 3: the rest of American industry. And so it's kind of like, look,
Speaker 3: I realized that the tech industry is about innovation and
Speaker 3: building new things, and those building of new things or
Speaker 3: new products and services, but there are also ways that
Speaker 3: can help all of America.
Speaker 1: And those are the questions that she's asked. Now.
Speaker 3: Biden, who has done a number of great things in
Speaker 3: his presidency. You know, he's controlled inflation better than you know,
Speaker 3: post COVID than any other you know, kind of first
Speaker 3: world country in doing that, and I think has done
Speaker 3: a number of very good things, but he has not
Speaker 3: been as engaged with the tech industry, whereas I think,
Speaker 3: you know, Vice President Harris, including you know, kind of
Speaker 3: in her very acceptance speech, has been And so I
Speaker 3: think that that kind of of of of how do
Speaker 3: we engage in the conversation. I mean, look, for example,
Speaker 3: what she did in the artificial intelligence you know, regulation
Speaker 3: and executive order process. She ran That first thing she
Speaker 3: did is She brought the companies into the White House
Speaker 3: to say, hey, we really need you guys to be
Speaker 3: going foot forward on safety and regulation. What kinds of
Speaker 3: things can you voluntarily commit to? You know, I talked
Speaker 3: to the folks who were there. She pushed them very
Speaker 3: harder map then she looked at Okay, so this is
Speaker 3: what they can commit to. Here's what we can put
Speaker 3: into an executive order law, here's what we can do
Speaker 3: to ongoing.
Speaker 1: Monitor or what happened and leave room renovation.
Speaker 3: That's what I expect across her approaching the entire technology
Speaker 3: industry with AI as the instance of it.
Speaker 4: Let's go to the other hypothetical, because she's engaging at
Speaker 4: the moment with the tech community. But many would say
Speaker 4: that Trump is very much engaging with the technology community
Speaker 4: with the amount that he's having Elon Musk on stage.
Speaker 4: If we see Musk taking a bigger role within a
Speaker 4: future administration, what does that mean for you and ultimately
Speaker 4: for the relationship that Silicon Valley has with Elon the.
Speaker 3: Musk Well, I think it depends on what the Trump administration,
Speaker 3: what Elon does. I think you know, the the Trump
Speaker 3: you know Trump and Trump presidency one, you know, his
Speaker 3: his early presidency has shown a certain amount of grifter capitalism.
Speaker 3: It's like trying to penalize his opponents using the instruments
Speaker 3: of state. You know, obviously, you know, we saw that
Speaker 3: happen with Amazon, which probably is you know, no inside knowledge,
Speaker 3: that probably correlated with Bezos's you know, forbidding the Washington
Speaker 3: Post from issuing a support statement. And so it's kind
Speaker 3: of like the if you're going to be individual company retaliatory,
Speaker 3: It's part of what might underlie a terrorist regime, is
Speaker 3: I can choose like who I'm going out favors to
Speaker 3: that does not create a good stable environment for investing
Speaker 3: in you know, kind of like you know, how do
Speaker 3: you invest in an overall industry and ecosystem. And so
Speaker 3: then the question, you know, would come down with Elon. Obviously,
Speaker 3: Elon's businesses have great ties to government. I mean, the
Speaker 3: whole space business is deeply tied to regulation and kind
Speaker 3: of government contracts. Automobiles is also tied to a bunch
Speaker 3: of regulatory frameworks.
Speaker 1: Obviously, you know what's going on with.
Speaker 3: You know, kind of media and information has ties there too,
Speaker 3: and I think unfortunately X dot Com is the primary
Speaker 3: supporter of conspiracy theories and you know, other kinds of things,
Speaker 3: which is a serious problem.
Speaker 1: All of that, the question.
Speaker 3: Is is, all right, well, does it continue to be
Speaker 3: grifter capitalism which is calling out to specific companies, or
Speaker 3: is it rule of law?
Speaker 2: Read on X and conspiracy theories. Bloomberg did a deep report,
Speaker 2: a data based piece of investiative journalism on that recently,
Speaker 2: and in that segment on the show, which you can
Speaker 2: find on YouTube, we gave X's point of view, which
Speaker 2: is that they disagree with that. And if you allow
Speaker 2: me to, I've invited Elon Musk onto this program many
Speaker 2: times and you are here and he's not. Something's different
Speaker 2: in this election. You're a well known person in the
Speaker 2: world of technology, but there are others on both sides
Speaker 2: who are speaking out, in my experience, more prominently than previously.
Speaker 2: Have there been any negative consequences of that, For example,
Speaker 2: if you are a venture capitalist or a CEO that
Speaker 2: publicly speaking about your political orientation and your support of
Speaker 2: a candidate has resulted in a loss of opportunity in
Speaker 2: deals or whatever it may be.
Speaker 3: Well, I've seen and you know, I think you know
Speaker 3: this in something that's this fraught, you know, I don't
Speaker 3: think it's just you know, retaliation in business circumstances from
Speaker 3: folks who are supporting Trump. Like I saw, you know,
Speaker 3: kind of you know, when vcs were speaking out, some
Speaker 3: LPs were very supportive of Trump, not at gray Lock
Speaker 3: in this, but in other firms kind of uh, you know,
Speaker 3: withdrew their support from the venture firms. I've seen other
Speaker 3: kinds of things where you know, people you know kind
Speaker 3: of uh, you know, kind of business relationship have soured
Speaker 3: because of it, you know, which I think is very unfortunate.
Speaker 3: I mean, I actually think the part of what we
Speaker 3: should aspire to as Americans and as business people is
Speaker 3: to is to kind of say, hey, look, what we
Speaker 3: should do is say what's the thing that we do
Speaker 3: to make American business and American industry better? And you know,
Speaker 3: like I've I've heard of Republican senators trash talking me
Speaker 3: internationally where you know, you think they'd be supportive of
Speaker 3: American business people. So I think that there is I
Speaker 3: think there are consequences of it, which you know, I
Speaker 3: think is unfortunate. But I think it's more important to
Speaker 3: be you know, kind of patriotic about what is good
Speaker 3: for America, American industry and American society even when you.
Speaker 4: Have this here, let's talking about the souring of certain relationships.
Speaker 4: The first one that comes to my mind is the
Speaker 4: souring of the relationship of who was a co founder
Speaker 4: of open AI, Elon Musk and now open AI more
Speaker 4: explicitly in its new form. Have you spoken to Sam
Speaker 4: Altman about and indeed Open AI about the worries of
Speaker 4: Edol Musk, who seems to have a dislike for the
Speaker 4: business if he took a more prominent role within the administration,
Speaker 4: What would it look like for AI more broadly to
Speaker 4: have Elon Musk in a position of power.
Speaker 3: Well, one of the things that I would worry about
Speaker 3: if Elon took a more prominent role is that he
Speaker 3: would view that the only real success for you.
Speaker 1: Know, the AI industry is if he is doing it.
Speaker 3: I mean, this is part of the question around the
Speaker 3: fact that he's kind of doing these baseless lawsuits against
Speaker 3: open AI that are you know, kind of like, well,
Speaker 3: I gave money philanthropically and I should kind of cut
Speaker 3: of what then turns into commercial which is by the way, illegal, right,
Speaker 3: and so you know, so that kind of of of
Speaker 3: of issue might then rear its head in this kind
Speaker 3: of tree radition of you know, kind.
Speaker 1: Of Trump's grifter or capitalism.
Speaker 3: I would hope that actually, in fact, if Elon were
Speaker 3: to accept a role, that he would go, Look, what
Speaker 3: I care about is all of them, you know, the
Speaker 3: tech sector of American industry, not just my own efforts.
Speaker 1: And I think we'd have to see what would play out.
Speaker 3: Then.
Speaker 2: The latest on the listigation between the two, I believe
Speaker 2: is also the eighth when Open AI accused Elon Musk
Speaker 2: of harassment in that legal fight, and again we've covered
Speaker 2: it on this program Read and we'll go back to it.
Speaker 2: Is AI and regulation of AI being discussed enough in
Speaker 2: this election by either candidate.
Speaker 3: Well, I'm not sure that it's the most central thing
Speaker 3: for kind of the general American society at the moment. Look,
Speaker 3: I think the how we get the benefits of AI
Speaker 3: for American industry, American society, American consumers, I think is
Speaker 3: really important. And one of the things about regulation is
Speaker 3: it tends to slow down innovation, that tends to delay
Speaker 3: and I think are tools for getting a medical assistant
Speaker 3: on every smartphone, a tutor on every smartphone for every
Speaker 3: American and maybe even more globally. I think those are
Speaker 3: the important things to be trying to get to. And
Speaker 3: that's less of a discussion about you know, AI in
Speaker 3: the election, but more kind of a like we should
Speaker 3: be building towards the future.
Speaker 2: Read if former President Trump were to get a second
Speaker 2: term in office, how are you preparing for that and
Speaker 2: how do you approach it were that to be the case.
Speaker 3: Well, if that's the case, then I would hope for
Speaker 3: the folks who who have argued to me that you know,
Speaker 3: you shouldn't actually in fact take President Trump's words seriously.
Speaker 3: That the fact that he is declaring a you know,
Speaker 3: like a tariff for w where you can do individual
Speaker 3: kind of grifter capitalism, but that's actually not what he's.
Speaker 1: Going to do.
Speaker 3: That he's going to try to be more business forward,
Speaker 3: more technology forward, and you should not be paying attention
Speaker 3: to what his words are. I would hope that they
Speaker 3: would be they would be correct if it ends up
Speaker 3: being what I fear, which is actually in fact a
Speaker 3: you know, kind of an individual kind of uh, you know,
Speaker 3: CLI sweating various businesses for his own kind of political favor.
Speaker 3: I think that will affect American industry in a way
Speaker 3: that will affect American prosperity, and so I think you
Speaker 3: have to. You have to you build in more resilience
Speaker 3: to chaos and uncertainty, and that's what you would do.
Speaker 3: I'm obviously very hopeful that Vice President Harris will win
Speaker 3: the election, and so therefore haven't done enormous contingency planning yet.
Speaker 4: I want to thank you so much for your perspective
Speaker 4: today as you do. Indeed, back Vice Paradism and Harris
Speaker 4: for the administration is the future. Gray Lot partner Reaed Hoffman,
Speaker 4: I appreciate it.