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"It’s a future I want to live in" - Sam Altman Not sure what future he is referring to, but if he means mach-5 private drones (i.e., one or two passenger) then

"It’s a future I want to live in" - Sam Altman Not sure what future he is referring to, but if he means mach-5 private drones (i.e., one or two passenger) then it is not the future I want to live in. We need to advance public transport for the masses and the use of renewable energy for it. We don't need hyper polluting single-digit passenger private transport for the ultra rich. If, as suggested below, it is all a cover for developing hypersonic autonomous killer drones, count me out too.

thebean11 5y ago
I don't think it's a secret, from the page: > and building for both commercial and defense markets
bhupy 5y ago
> We need to advance public transport for the masses and the use of renewable energy for it. I don't think Sam Altman would disagree with this statement. He also recently led a $500 million investment in Helion (https://www.helionenergy.com/articles/helion-raises-500m/ https://www.helionenergy.com/articles/helion-raises-500m/), with the goal of achieving net-zero fusion energy by 2024. Also, a lot of major technological advances enjoyed by the masses today started off as niche defense projects (the Internet, GPS, modern flight, etc). If we're able to prove out the technology for the niche defense use-case, it's not out of the realm of possibility that it will eventually be worth investing in developments of the same technology in ways that may benefit the masses. That said, it is true that Sam Altman does not hold a strict pacifist view on technological improvements in defense (i.e. funding of killing machines). That's a thornier debate.
- mburee 5y ago
  Isn't 500Mio kind of nothing to get fusion working in 2 years?
  - bhupy 5y ago
    No idea, I'm no expert on the matter. I'd also think that $100M to get hypersonic aircraft working in 1 year is also inadequate, so shrug. Either way, he's deploying his capital in ways that advance each of these goals, and he notably has deployed more capital towards renewable energy than developing so-called "killing machines" (setting aside the possibility of subsequent mass-market inventions that spin off from military technology development).
- moralestapia 5y ago
  >achieving net-zero fusion energy by 2024 LOL, unbelievable!
- deleted 5y ago
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thebean11 5y ago

I don't think it's a secret, from the page: > and building for both commercial and defense markets

bhupy 5y ago

> We need to advance public transport for the masses and the use of renewable energy for it. I don't think Sam Altman would disagree with this statement. He also recently led a $500 million investment in Helion (https://www.helionenergy.com/articles/helion-raises-500m/ https://www.helionenergy.com/articles/helion-raises-500m/), with the goal of achieving net-zero fusion energy by 2024. Also, a lot of major technological advances enjoyed by the masses today started off as niche defense projects (the Internet, GPS, modern flight, etc). If we're able to prove out the technology for the niche defense use-case, it's not out of the realm of possibility that it will eventually be worth investing in developments of the same technology in ways that may benefit the masses. That said, it is true that Sam Altman does not hold a strict pacifist view on technological improvements in defense (i.e. funding of killing machines). That's a thornier debate.

mburee 5y ago
Isn't 500Mio kind of nothing to get fusion working in 2 years?
- bhupy 5y ago
  No idea, I'm no expert on the matter. I'd also think that $100M to get hypersonic aircraft working in 1 year is also inadequate, so shrug. Either way, he's deploying his capital in ways that advance each of these goals, and he notably has deployed more capital towards renewable energy than developing so-called "killing machines" (setting aside the possibility of subsequent mass-market inventions that spin off from military technology development).
moralestapia 5y ago
>achieving net-zero fusion energy by 2024 LOL, unbelievable!
deleted 5y ago
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