Reminds me of what Machiavelli said about coming to power using mercenaries and auxilieries the way the current crop of politicians have used tech today: "Capta

Reminds me of what Machiavelli said about coming to power using mercenaries and auxilieries the way the current crop of politicians have used tech today: "Captains of mercenaries are either able men or they are not. If they are, you cannot trust them, since they will always seek their own aggrandizement, either by overthrowing you who are their master, or by the overthrow of others contrary to your desire." What did these companies think would happen if they became partisan mercenaries? Future reference: always back underdogs or nobody at all because when they win you still have some leverage. The platforms just made themselves disposable stepping stones and now they are being disposed of. I'm untroubled by it because it was staggeringly naive on their part to compromise themselves, and we need fresh platforms anyway, but they really walked right into that one.