7 ms·

Peter Thiel Says FBI, CIA Should Probe Google

53 points by kevmo 7y ago

lettergram 7y ago
This is kind of a weird snippet - where / when did Peter Thiel say this? It seems like a fair statement, but without context, it almost seems made up and / or missing some pieces of information.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- crispyambulance 7y ago
  It's all in the article. Bloomberg also reported it. It happened yesterday at the "National Conservatism Conference". He makes some interesting and provocative points, but it's so heavily peppered with right-wing/libertarian crazy, one can't really take him seriously.
- _jal 7y ago
  Apparently at this conference: https://nationalconservatism.org https://nationalconservatism.org If wanting the FBI to beat up Google execs for leaking AI research is 'a fair statement', what does an unfair one look like?
  - spamizbad 7y ago
    Ah the classic conservative stance of small government, limited regulation and... (checks notes)... siccing the government's bloated alphabet agencies on your competition.
    - westmeal 7y ago
      Great guy.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
paxys 7y ago
Hmm but Facebook is A-ok. Wonder why?
- ailideex 7y ago
  Why is Facebook A-ok?
  - cascom 7y ago
    He is on the board
    - ailideex 7y ago
      I'm not sure that being on the board of a company means that you are okay with everything the company does.
      - jfengel 7y ago
        But it's still dubious when a board member is calling out a competitor for a problem that they also share. It looks a lot less like a sincere desire for protection and more like calling the cops on somebody you don't like.
titzer 7y ago
His questions are really missing the mark. Number one should be: What information have you collected on members of all governments and militaries in the world using your insanely broad surveillance network across Google Search, Adsense, and Android, specifically GLS?
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
wyldfire 7y ago
shrug. Counterintelligence is already one of the FBI's high priority missions. Why should they probe beyond whatever they're already doing? > how many foreign intelligence agencies have infiltrated your Manhattan Project for AI? The FBI doesn't need a special directive to try and find this out. And it's in Google's interest to cooperate. > I would like them to be asked in a not excessively gentle manner. Love or hate the GOOG, they are a US power company that delivers a lot of good things to the people of the US, California, and the world. Maybe it should be `s/probe/protect/`. > seemingly treasonous decision to work with the Chinese military and not with the US military... Is this true? This seems like an exaggeration of [1]. > “The work that Google is doing in China is indirectly benefiting the Chinese military,” Marine General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing. [1] https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-china-google/googles-work-in-china-benefiting-chinas-military-u-s-general-idUSKCN1QV296 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-china-google/googles-...
- beezle 7y ago
  Disagree that it is the FBIs job to "protect" domestic companies from possible foreign corporate and/or govt espionage. Should be up to the company to protect itself. If and when it believes a crime has been committed, fine call in the FBI.
astrea 7y ago
They should probe Peter Thiel, honestly.
- ailideex 7y ago
  Why?
cagenut 7y ago
holy shit read the quotes "so thoroughly infiltrated that they have engaged in the seemingly treasonous decision to work with the Chinese military and not with the US military" "I would like them to be asked in a not excessively gentle manner."
- swebs 7y ago
  >[Google's] decision to work with the Chinese military Huh, this is the first time I'm hearing of this claim. Apparently they're only indirectly supporting the Chinese military so it's a nuanced issue. https://www.thedailybeast.com/google-snubbed-the-pentagonbut-not-the-chinese-military https://www.thedailybeast.com/google-snubbed-the-pentagonbut...
wbronitsky 7y ago
So a guy who sits on the FB board and runs his own US defense contracting company says the US Government should investigate the direct competitor of his companies, after donating large sums of money to the campaign of the current US President. A person who has so much faith in the US government that he has purchased citizenship in New Zeland. A person who has questioned the US 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote. Why should we listen to him?
- wang_li 7y ago
  Are they a direct competitor in this space? From the quotes he seems to be asking why they have chosen not to be a competitor.
  - wbronitsky 7y ago
    Google is a direct competitor to Facebook in the Ad space. Google is a direct competitor to Palantir in the Defense space. I’m sure he is worried about the latter, as they can test the infra with the Chinese, then sell it to the Americans, in some not too far off future. Remember, we have always been at war with Eurasia. Or was it Eastasia?
- swebs 7y ago
  There's nothing wrong with dual citizenship.
  - wbronitsky 7y ago
    Very true and I didn’t mean to say otherwise. There is nothing wrong about being a citizen of more than one country. I’m trying to point out that Thiel doesn’t actually trust the US government and he is making an argument in bad faith to serve his personal interests, not those of other US citizens
    - bassman9000 7y ago
      Does that mean all those congressmen and senators with dual citizenship don't trust the US gov either?
javajosh 7y ago
As an aside, it must be really nice to get major press coverage of you expressing an opinion. It's like a superpower.
- throwaway5752 7y ago
  It's also nice to be a billionaire with close ties to the president, being on Facebooks BoD, founding a domestic surveillance company with a number of defense and law enforcement contracts. It's also nice to be invited to a conference in DC as a speaker and say the government should interrogate your competitors. Given those circumstances, it seems like getting press coverage for this is predictable and unsurprising.

53 points by kevmo 7y ago

This is kind of a weird snippet - where / when did Peter Thiel say this? It seems like a fair statement, but without context, it almost seems made up and / or missing some pieces of information.

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
crispyambulance 7y ago
It's all in the article. Bloomberg also reported it. It happened yesterday at the "National Conservatism Conference". He makes some interesting and provocative points, but it's so heavily peppered with right-wing/libertarian crazy, one can't really take him seriously.
_jal 7y ago
Apparently at this conference: https://nationalconservatism.org https://nationalconservatism.org If wanting the FBI to beat up Google execs for leaking AI research is 'a fair statement', what does an unfair one look like?
- spamizbad 7y ago
  Ah the classic conservative stance of small government, limited regulation and... (checks notes)... siccing the government's bloated alphabet agencies on your competition.
  - westmeal 7y ago
    Great guy.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]

paxys 7y ago

Hmm but Facebook is A-ok. Wonder why?

ailideex 7y ago
Why is Facebook A-ok?
- cascom 7y ago
  He is on the board
  - ailideex 7y ago
    I'm not sure that being on the board of a company means that you are okay with everything the company does.
    - jfengel 7y ago
      But it's still dubious when a board member is calling out a competitor for a problem that they also share. It looks a lot less like a sincere desire for protection and more like calling the cops on somebody you don't like.

titzer 7y ago

His questions are really missing the mark. Number one should be: What information have you collected on members of all governments and militaries in the world using your insanely broad surveillance network across Google Search, Adsense, and Android, specifically GLS?

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]

wyldfire 7y ago

shrug. Counterintelligence is already one of the FBI's high priority missions. Why should they probe beyond whatever they're already doing? > how many foreign intelligence agencies have infiltrated your Manhattan Project for AI? The FBI doesn't need a special directive to try and find this out. And it's in Google's interest to cooperate. > I would like them to be asked in a not excessively gentle manner. Love or hate the GOOG, they are a US power company that delivers a lot of good things to the people of the US, California, and the world. Maybe it should be `s/probe/protect/`. > seemingly treasonous decision to work with the Chinese military and not with the US military... Is this true? This seems like an exaggeration of [1]. > “The work that Google is doing in China is indirectly benefiting the Chinese military,” Marine General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing. [1] https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-china-google/googles-work-in-china-benefiting-chinas-military-u-s-general-idUSKCN1QV296 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-china-google/googles-...

beezle 7y ago
Disagree that it is the FBIs job to "protect" domestic companies from possible foreign corporate and/or govt espionage. Should be up to the company to protect itself. If and when it believes a crime has been committed, fine call in the FBI.

astrea 7y ago

They should probe Peter Thiel, honestly.

ailideex 7y ago
Why?

cagenut 7y ago

holy shit read the quotes "so thoroughly infiltrated that they have engaged in the seemingly treasonous decision to work with the Chinese military and not with the US military" "I would like them to be asked in a not excessively gentle manner."

swebs 7y ago
>[Google's] decision to work with the Chinese military Huh, this is the first time I'm hearing of this claim. Apparently they're only indirectly supporting the Chinese military so it's a nuanced issue. https://www.thedailybeast.com/google-snubbed-the-pentagonbut-not-the-chinese-military https://www.thedailybeast.com/google-snubbed-the-pentagonbut...

wbronitsky 7y ago

So a guy who sits on the FB board and runs his own US defense contracting company says the US Government should investigate the direct competitor of his companies, after donating large sums of money to the campaign of the current US President. A person who has so much faith in the US government that he has purchased citizenship in New Zeland. A person who has questioned the US 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote. Why should we listen to him?

wang_li 7y ago
Are they a direct competitor in this space? From the quotes he seems to be asking why they have chosen not to be a competitor.
- wbronitsky 7y ago
  Google is a direct competitor to Facebook in the Ad space. Google is a direct competitor to Palantir in the Defense space. I’m sure he is worried about the latter, as they can test the infra with the Chinese, then sell it to the Americans, in some not too far off future. Remember, we have always been at war with Eurasia. Or was it Eastasia?
swebs 7y ago
There's nothing wrong with dual citizenship.
- wbronitsky 7y ago
  Very true and I didn’t mean to say otherwise. There is nothing wrong about being a citizen of more than one country. I’m trying to point out that Thiel doesn’t actually trust the US government and he is making an argument in bad faith to serve his personal interests, not those of other US citizens
  - bassman9000 7y ago
    Does that mean all those congressmen and senators with dual citizenship don't trust the US gov either?

javajosh 7y ago

As an aside, it must be really nice to get major press coverage of you expressing an opinion. It's like a superpower.

throwaway5752 7y ago
It's also nice to be a billionaire with close ties to the president, being on Facebooks BoD, founding a domestic surveillance company with a number of defense and law enforcement contracts. It's also nice to be invited to a conference in DC as a speaker and say the government should interrogate your competitors. Given those circumstances, it seems like getting press coverage for this is predictable and unsurprising.