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Let me see if I understand this right: New Zealand citizen and Facebook board member Peter Thiel criticizes UK-based DeepMind and its sister company Google for
by thesausageking 7y ago
Let me see if I understand this right: New Zealand citizen and Facebook board member Peter Thiel criticizes UK-based DeepMind and its sister company Google for working with non-US countries on AI technology.
In addition, there's no mention that three of Thiel's key investments (Space X, Palantir, and Anduril) require contracts from the US government, which is run by a President who Thiel helped get elected and is very hostile towards China.
- noobermin 7y agoGoogle is Thiel's rival, this should be the lens through which everyone reading this piece reads it.
- pixelrevision 7y agoAlso no mention of the fact that palantir and anduril may have their own list of ethical challenges.
- aloukissas 7y agoIt's a huge fail by the NYT that they failed to disclose Thiel's role as a Facebook board member, etc. This is no opinion piece, it's aiming to benefit the writer and his interests/investments.
- espeed 7y agoMany people have eyes on this. This is not about an investment.
- creaghpatr 7y agoIt absolutely is an opinion piece which is why the disclosure is not required. Why would someone write an op-ed that's not to their benefit?
- aloukissas 7y agoYup. The quality standards on opinion pieces, even at NYT has drastically decreased.
- bsg75 7y agohttps://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20593547 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20593547
- espeed 7y agoThis is not a FB thing -- It's a technology transfer thing. An economic thing. A trade thing. A national security thing... There's a ton more going on in the news and behind the scenes beyond the Thiel NYT post.
- C1sc0cat 7y agoAnd why exactly from a national security POV is Mr Thiel (now on his third nationality) allowed to involved with Space X, Palantir, and Anduril.
- creaghpatr 7y agoProbably because New Zealand is not a military rival and China is, this is pretty obvious to people who aren't being disingenuous.
- Gpetrium 7y agoIn a lot of cases, it falls under similar reasons to why the US brought thousands of German scientists during and after WW2 via Operation Paperclip [1] and others, to work in places such as NASA. It becomes a matter of compartmentalizing secrets, understanding the individual's drivers, considering the levels of risks and potential ways to mitigate it, etc. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Paperclip https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Paperclip
- imgabe 7y agoThis is a reductionist ad hominem response that fails to address any of the points raised in TFA. > Let me see if I understand this right: New Zealand citizen and Facebook board member Peter Thiel criticizes UK-based DeepMind and its sister company Google for working with non-US countries on AI technology. No, you do not have that correct. He is not criticizing Google for working with "non-US countries". He is criticizing them for working with China specifically, which is known to spy on and steal technology from the US and then use it to oppress their citizens. At the same time Google is refusing to work with the US, you know the country where they actually live and work.
- guelo 7y agoAd hominem accusations should not be used to try to hide large conflicts of interests.
- imgabe 7y agoArguments are valid or invalid on their own merits, regardless of the interests of the person making them. If Thiel made a claim that was false or that did not logically follow from the premises, that would be worth pointing out. Merely suggesting that an argument is in someone's interest does not mean it's wrong. Are people only allowed to make arguments that are against their own interests? That seems unreasonable.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]