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Larry Ellison – 'citizens will be on their best behavior' amid nonstop recording
- robin_reala 1y ago1984 was meant to be a satire, not a manual.
- SkipperCat 1y agoI always felt the movie "Brazil" was the satire. 1984 was the horror film.
- SkyeCA 1y agoUltimately both are just movies and I dislike when people compare them to the real world given how exaggerated they are, but the basic premise of Brazil happens regularly: one piece of paperwork filed incorrectly can seriously impact your life. See this woman for an example: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/live-woman-declared-dead-service-canada-1.7451371 https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/live-woman-decl...
- linhns 1y agoYet somehow it’s turning into reality with big nations threatening to eat small ones and become super states.
- andsoitis 1y ago> big nations threatening to eat small ones and become super states what are a couple of examples you have in mind that support your claim of this trend? I must be living under a rock because I have not detected this.
- robin_reala 1y agoUSA threatening to take over Greenland? That’d increase its area by another ~20%.
- linhns 1y agoRussia?
- kylegalbraith 1y agoAnd toddlers at a trampoline park will not be monkeys bouncing off the wall on their 15th pack of gummy bears.
- j_moulin32 1y agoAlternatively, I propose we seize Larry's assets, starting with the boats, then liquidate them for the benefit of developing families.
- pantulis 1y agoAnd with that, Larry will be on his best behaviour.
- elric 1y agoI would love it if everyone who proposed more surveillance would be subject to that self same surveillance for at least a year before being allowed to push it onto other people. Go through their bank accounts with a fine toothed comb. Watch them om CCTV everywhere they go. Track their online activity. Scan all their messages for sexual abuse material. Go through all their luggage at every checkpoint. Do a cavity search at every border. Take their temperature whenever they want to enter a crowded venue. Tired of all these "rules for thee" while certain classes remain unaffected.
- psadauskas 1y agoAnd Lanai, the 6th largest of the Hawaiian islands, which is owned 98% by Larry.
- petercooper 1y ago"Citizens will be on their best behavior because we are constantly recording and reporting everything that’s going on" Video games and YouTube can't be entirely to blame for the significant falls in alcohol consumption and the night entertainment industry generally. People don't want to get drunk, do something stupid, and end up on blast all over the Internet now that everyone's carrying a camera connected to the entire world in real time.
- duxup 1y agoI think the choice of drinking or not is really disconnected from cameras. You can drink just fine at home and people are just drinking less.
- SkyeCA 1y agoI am absolutely convinced as well that this a huge factor behind younger generations not drinking as much, at least not in public. One night of fun going bad would have been forgotten in the 90s, now it could very well cost you your job or schooling. Heck forget drinking, these days there's always someone nearby who's ready to upload your worst moment to Tiktok, so don't you dare have mental health issues either.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- morkalork 1y agor/tooktoomuch has probably done more for the war on drugs than years of DARE programs
- chuckadams 1y agoOk Larry, where's the minute-by-minute footage of your private life?
- nostrademons 1y agoTBF, this article kinda is it, as they're playing back comments he made a year ago (under a different administration) during an earning's call.
- ceejayoz 1y agoAn earnings call is not private.
- red_rech 1y agoHe doesn’t need to provide that, he’s a lord.
- layer8 1y agoHe’s already on his best behavior.
- thaw13579 1y agoLately people with high a level of wealth and power like Ellison view themselves as a privileged class and have no pretense that their machinations should apply equally to all. The erosion of that norm, equality of all under the law, is the elephant in the room. If we can preserve that norm, points like yours easily undermine these arguments.
- potato3732842 1y agoThe fact that an out of touch billionaire might say such a thing doesn't bother me much, he's out of touch after all. The fact that we reliably and repeatedly see peasants (i.e. any less equal animal, so everyone here) who have no such excuse cheerleading for specific implementations in furtherance of their pet issues bothers me greatly. I'd say you ought to know better, but you do. When these subjects are discussed on a general level everyone acknowledges they're bad so clearly everyone gets it on a big picture level. But when the discussion is speed cameras, surveillance at the park, siphoning off of mundane consumer financial transaction data, etc, etc those things have strong support. People are clearly happy to put up with the threats posed by pervasive surveillance lest some other peasant step the slightest bit out of line and get away with it. I think this contradiction speaks volumes about character.
- baggachipz 1y agoBut we're all going to be billionaires soon, right? Right? Edit: /s, in case it wasn't obvious
- BoredPositron 1y agoYou got like 7 phds in your pocket... it's on you if you don't use them. smh.
- ragebol 1y agoEven if we are, if there are trillionaires (on the long scale) or quadrillionaires, there will still be vast (problematic[1]) inequality. [1] Problematic in the sense that the persons holding such vast wealth seem to go bonkers AND for the problems inequality leads to for society
- baggachipz 1y agoI guess I forgot my /s
- ragebol 1y ago
- stevierayfrog 1y agoWho watches the watchmen?
- morkalork 1y agoWell according to the exceptions in chat control: Nobody
- close04 1y agoThis goes double for him personally. I take his insistence on singing the praises for pervasive surveillance while avoiding it himself as an admission of him committing the worst crimes.
- andsoitis 1y ago> admission of him committing the worst crimes. such as?
- close04 1y agoI don't know but isn't this the usual go-to for all those supporting the surveillance state? Think of the kids? But the terrorists? What's good for the goose is good for the gander, if he eschews being surveilled just like everyone else then it's because he wants to commit the crimes that we want to prevent others committing. Take your pick.
- catigula 1y ago[flagged]
- jampekka 1y ago> The thing that billionaires don't realize is that they fall into the "citizens" category. Or they realize they don't?
- dylan604 1y agoWith that much money, you stop being any any category. You now become extra-categorical. If someone tries to hold you accountable to the rules of some category you don’t feel like you should, you just spend money to make the situation go away
- TheOtherHobbes 1y agoA surprising number of Russian oligarchs were very surprised to find their wealth didn't protect them from a crunchy encounter with the ground after mysteriously falling out of a window. Evil always eats its own. Why would the US be any different? It only takes one ruthlessly ambitious murderous psychopath with a deviant personal life to spoil things for everyone.
- jfyi 1y agoDo not fall into the trap of anthropomorphising Larry Ellison.
- chmod775 1y agoIn case you were wondering: What you are currently experiencing is "disgust" - a natural and healthy reaction.
- zb3 1y agoWhere can I watch the 24/7 livestream showing what Larry Ellison is doing? He wants to be on his best behavior, right?
- chiffre01 1y agoWhy is it that every single person born between 1940 and 1965 (or making more than $1 million per year) just wants to see all freedoms erased and every natural resource exhausted for their personal comfort?
- c-linkage 1y agoBecause they already own those assets and don't want anyone else to have them. The perception of wealth is always relative so if I can't make any more to maintain my status I must ensure that others can't get what I have.
- cjbgkagh 1y agoNot sure if the causality there is the right way around, I would suggest that because they have these beliefs they are allowed to amass that wealth. Oracle is a CIA spin-off (1977), they even kept the code name. The CIA works closely with Mossad. The 'abolish all billionaires' plan is encouraged precisely because it will be ineffective - they're assets of the state secret police and good luck abolishing that.
- JumpCrisscross 1y ago> The 'abolish all billionaires' plan is encouraged precisely because it will be ineffective - they're assets of the state secret police Sorry, all billionaires are “assets of the state secret police”? So who calls the shots?
- cjbgkagh 1y ago[flagged]
- StephenSmith 1y agoLead poisoning.
- 1y ago
- mingus88 1y agoA decade of social media has already proven that to be false
- Simulacra 1y ago"If you've done nothing wrong, you've got nothing to worry about." Eric Schmidt At one point, being gay was against the law, abortion is against the law in some places, at one time being an atheist could get your head cut off. Let's do some nonstop recording of Larry Ellison, his children, his entire family, his neighbors, because they'll "be on their best behavior, a midnight nonstop recording" The rich and elite never think about these things because they never consider that it might also effect them.
- cmrdporcupine 1y agoI think it's that increasingly the "wrong" things they're worried that people are doing... are direct threats to them (oligarchical wealth holders).
- billy99k 1y ago[flagged]
- jodrellblank 1y agoIreland doesn't fit your claim.
- billy99k 1y agoYou can google it yourself: "does ireland have surveillance cameras" "Where you'll find surveillance cameras: Public Transport: Cameras are installed on Luas trams and at major train and bus stations. Public Buildings: The Office of Public Works (OPW) uses security cameras in public buildings. Streets and Cities: An Garda Síochána has a network of cameras, and community groups and businesses also request and install them in their towns and cities. Private Businesses: CCTV systems are prevalent in banks, casinos, pubs, shopping centers, and large department stores. Private Homes: Many homeowners use security cameras for protection, with potential eligibility for insurance discounts" Have you even been to Ireland? Because it sure looks like they have camera systems everywhere. It seems nobody wants to actually reduce crime here. You want: - No guns - No cameras - less police
- rsynnott 1y agoIs your contention that the only anti-gun countries are, er, the UK and Singapore? And to be honest, the UK surveillance thing is somewhat exaggerated; it's highly London-centric, and they're mostly privately-owned cameras; the main driving factor is the insurance industry. Ireland, say, has some of the strictest gun laws in the developed world, and doesn't have a large number of CCTVs or other forms of surveillance.
- billy99k 1y ago"And to be honest, the UK surveillance thing is somewhat exaggerated; it's highly London-centric, and they're mostly privately-owned cameras; the main driving factor is the insurance industry." The big cities is where the most crime happens. It's not really 'exaggerated'. If you legally aren't allowed to protect yourself during a crime, it's best to have a camera in place that catches the person that's doing it (and put fear in others, so the situation is avoided). "Ireland, say, has some of the strictest gun laws in the developed world, and doesn't have a large number of CCTVs or other forms of surveillance." This isn't true at all.
- JumpCrisscross 1y agoThis relies on, normatively, shame, and legally, a Stasi-esque police state. I don’t know what about the last twenty years of politics or culture would imply the former is an option.
- red_rech 1y ago> This relies on, normatively, shame, and legally, a Stasi-esque police state. You can get the populace to swallow surveillance if you give them an enemy. See: PATRIOT act. Anyone wanna take bets on what this one will be called.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- Ylpertnodi 1y agoThe Fuck You, Peasants, Act
- fmobus 1y agoRight because the UK is such a safe place.
- JumpCrisscross 1y ago> because the UK is such a safe place Objectively, it is [1]. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intenti... 1.1 vs 5.8 intentional homicides per 100,000
- sph 1y agoThere are more than two countries in the world. Italy, for example, without pervasive monitoring and overt spying of its citizens, is at 0.545, half the UK rate. Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, just to name a few, are all below the UK rate.
- jodrellblank 1y agoOn the Global Peace Index, the UK is number 30 in the world and the USA is 128, below Rwanda, China, South Africa, India, Bangladesh. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Peace_Index https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Peace_Index
- dylan604 1y agoThe GP’s comment has nothing to do with the US though. So what’s your point?
- JumpCrisscross 1y ago> GP’s comment has nothing to do with the US though To which country’s citizens do you think the article featuring Larry Ellison on a podium next to Donald Trump is referring ?
- jfyi 1y agoI'm actually having difficulties trying to find where the UK was brought into it if not by the commenter in question. If we are pointing out lapse of context, that is.
- bhouston 1y agoLarry Ellison is ultra-pro Israel if you didn't know. He and others are pushing for Bari Weiss take a key role at CBS to better "defend Israel": https://nypost.com/2025/09/19/media/shari-redstone-says-bari-weiss-would-be-good-voice-at-cbs-news/ https://nypost.com/2025/09/19/media/shari-redstone-says-bari... And many people are worried about a similar type of agenda setting at TikTok now: https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/will-tiktoks-new-owners-censor-pro-palestine-content.html https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/will-tiktoks-new-own... Netanyahu, for his part, believes it is super consequential for Ellison to takeover TikTok: https://x.com/TheTNHoller/status/1972326967983923636 https://x.com/TheTNHoller/status/1972326967983923636 (Video) https://jewishinsider.com/2025/09/tiktok-sale-netanyahu-american-influencers-israel-jews/ https://jewishinsider.com/2025/09/tiktok-sale-netanyahu-amer... (Summary) (And if that wasn't enough, Ellison has his eyes set on Warner Brothers next, which includes CNN: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/11/business/media/paramount-warner-bros-discovery-bid.html https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/11/business/media/paramount-... )
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- JumpCrisscross 1y agoThat’s a study shoehorn… Would his statements be better if he were pro-Gaza or something else?
- amval 1y agoWell, yes, it would be better if he didn't amplify propaganda for the country that is committing a genocide and would raise awareness for the victims. Is this not self-evident?
- JumpCrisscross 1y agoThe point is this comes down to a foreign policy disagreement that isn’t germane to Ellison’s comments on surveillance. (I can come with a litany of policy disagreements with anyone of Ellison’s stature, some of which I probably feel about strongly.) Read in good faith, it’s overzealous advocacy. In bad faith, which I don’t assume here, it serves to get this discussion flagged off the front page.
- Havoc 1y agoThese oligarchs are becoming a danger to democracy & society
- dylan604 1y agoBecoming? Wealth has always been a danger. The becoming part isn’t the danger but how the inequality balance is becoming so lop sided
- m-hodges 1y agoWinston kept his back turned to the telescreen. It was safer, though, as he well knew, even a back can be revealing.
- js8 1y ago'Yes,' said O'Brien, 'we can turn it off. We have that privilege.'
- speak_plainly 1y agoIt feels like a handful of billionaires and politicians recently decided that the world’s problems aren’t rooted in them or the systems that elevated them. Since the system worked for them, it must be sound; the problem must be everyone else. Their solution seems to be more control, more oversight, and a few technocratic tweaks. And if we just let them keep steering society, utopia is right around the corner.
- koolba 1y agoI encourage people making snap comments to read at least one entire paragraph of the article: > “We’re going to have supervision,” Ellison said. “Every police officer is going to be supervised at all times, and if there’s a problem, AI will report that problem and report it to the appropriate person. Citizens will be on their best behavior because we are constantly recording and reporting everything that’s going on.” I'd say I'm about as much against the modern surveillance state as the next codger, but that doesn't mean I don't understand its implications. People do act differently when they know they are being watched. Even more so when they know they are being recorded. There's still quite a bit of federation in that each store or home has its own cameras, and chaining them together to get an end-to-end view of a series of events is still manual. But that won't be like that forever. Whether we like it or not, that's only going to get easier.
- JumpCrisscross 1y ago> People do act differently when they know they are being watched I really want to see more evidence for this. People act differently when they face consequences. More surveillance without enforcement wouldn’t be expected to positively change behaviour.
- flenserboy 1y agobehavior will only get worse once people figure out that enforcement will either be entirely selective (based on the friends of whoever controls the programming) or entirely arbitrary. people will wish for anarcho-tyranny.
- _DeadFred_ 1y agoThis. All that will happen is that if you come to the wrong person's attention your 'record' will be checked and consequences leveled. Too much happens in the world for our system to punish everyone. But to be able to selectively punish whoever you want at the push of a button, that is power. Maybe you didn't do anything. But your kids? Your business partners? Someone did something, if we record/save everything and look closely. Even if you are perfect we can make you a pariah if it get's known that anyone around you risks themselves/their children getting backlash for associating with you.
- FridayoLeary 1y agoI think this warrants an investigation as to at what point exactly did he completely disconnect from our reality. I think another parallel investigation should be begun as to how such a phenomenon could have been dismissed as science fiction when we have living evidence of it.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- cs702 1y agoFor a description of the consequences of mass surveillance and repressive regimentation of individual behavior in a society, read: "Nineteen Eighty-Four" by George Orwell.[a] --- [a] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nineteen_Eighty-Four https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nineteen_Eighty-Four
- retinaros 1y agothis proves that freedom of speech is the only thing that ever mattered. the left toyed with it and now its the right turn. we can see now the same thing being deployed in UK targeting people sending memes. It will be same for the US. don't ever create a precedent if you dont want your enemies to use your tools against you. that + the fact that LLMs will accelerate a lot of the surveillance industry.
- FarMcKon 1y agoThis is the fascist dream. Who defines 'Best Behavior?' Whoever owns the cameras, and the cops. Criticize the president? Not best behavior. Kiss someone of your sex/gender? Not best behavior. Call AI stupid? Not best behavior. Whistleblower on out a deadly chemical leak? Not best behavior. Disagree with a politician? Not best behavior. Defined LGBTQ+ people's rights? Not best behavior. Criticize Isreal ? Not best behavior. They are going to define "best behavior" in a way that never threatens their feelings, let alone threatens their powers, if you let them.
- jpster 1y ago> They are going to define "best behavior" in a way that never threatens their feelings, let alone threatens their powers, if you let them. You are painfully correct https://www.kenklippenstein.com/p/trumps-nspm-7-labels-common-beliefs https://www.kenklippenstein.com/p/trumps-nspm-7-labels-commo...
- yepguy 1y agoLooking at that list of extremist indicators, I would agree that they qualify as common beliefs. It's hard to be too outraged though, because they also seem to genuinely reflect destructive beliefs that are absolutely antithetical to American society.
- jpster 1y agoWow, you seem to be so confident in defining exactly when and how any of the following “beliefs” are “anthitetical to American society”: > hostility towards those who hold traditional American views on family, > hostility towards those who hold traditional American views on religion, and > hostility towards those who hold traditional American views on morality. You seem to be a paragon of discernment regarding extremely subjective, ill-defined areas. How impressive.
- parrellel 1y agoYou know, it's fun how Ellison's been selling this same dystopian hellscape since Bush II. What is life that we're back here again?
- cjs_ac 1y agoThis is precisely the kind of opinion I'd expect a lawnmower to express. https://simonwillison.net/2024/Sep/17/bryan-cantrill/ https://simonwillison.net/2024/Sep/17/bryan-cantrill/
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- AnimalMuppet 1y agoRemind me, is this the guy who keeps landing his plane at the airport after it's closed, against the rules? On camera? Is that recording of him putting him on his best behavior? No, it's actually not.
- clot27 1y agohow people vote these psychopaths?
- btbuildem 1y agoIt's interesting this thread is flagged, given that the scenario is a direct consequence of advances of technology, AI, and worship of wealth -- seems very core HN. Entities with this level of resources and influence have very little in common with people, other than biology. We would do well to instead perceive them as dangerous alien parasites -- not precisely hostile, but lacking social connection to the rest of us, and indifferent to the suffering of humanity.
- JumpCrisscross 1y agoIt went off topic at the top of the thread. I didn't flag. But if you want to get something flagged off the front page, I guess that's how it's done.
- btbuildem 1y agoAh it's too bad they can't flag just the off-topic subthreads
- Atariman 1y agoIt could be so easy, just don't use anything related to Oracle. But it's the same as back in the days with IBM - nobody gets fired by buying stuff from Oracle.
- josefritzishere 1y agoBy that logic Larry Ellison should be monitored 24/7 to motivate him to be on his best behavior.
- BirAdam 1y agoQuis custodiet ipsos custodes?
- ChrisArchitect 1y agoLots of discussion and submissions in 2024 when this was fresher news: Omnipresent AI cameras will ensure good behavior, says Larry Ellison https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41562750 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41562750 Larry Ellison: vast AI surveillance can ensure citizens are on best behavior https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42825097 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42825097
- reocha 1y agoNow may be a good time to support/use tor: https://www.torproject.org/download/ https://www.torproject.org/download/ https://donate.torproject.org/ https://donate.torproject.org/ Or even i2p: https://geti2p.net https://geti2p.net
- NickC25 1y agoWe should tax opinions like this right out of existence. This dude has almost half a trillion dollars to his name. Larry, instead of waxing lyrical about your desire for a police state, how about you bugger off to a private island and establish your own society there, and leave the rest of the world for people who don't clamor for more money after making hundreds of billions of dollars. Some people just aren't satisfied with having too much. I'm not in favor of a "abolish billionaires" catch-all policy, but from having met a bunch of billionaires, some just need to call it a day and spend more time with their families.
- IAmGraydon 1y agoYou can get $10 million or even $100 million because you love business and love making money. When you start to approach levels north of $1 billion, you don't get there unless you just love something more than money. That amount of money is unnecessary for any person to materially better their own or their family's lives. You only get there if you love power. This is why so many billionaires seem to be turning into psychopaths - they were already power addicts and they just get to levels of wealth that enables them to express it fully. They never wanted islands and jets. They want complete control.
- sys_64738 1y agoWe should have a Larry Cam then like from the movie Ed TV.
- M95D 1y agoI'm afraid to comment due to the fact that an AI may attach a negative tag to my internet-wide profile/record.
- timbit42 1y agoWhat's the difference between God and Larry Ellison? God knows he's not Larry Ellison. I heard that over 35 years ago. I wonder how much older it is.
- IAmGraydon 1y agoNo doubt Ellison is a weirdo with some weird aspirations, but consider that this story came out last year and is being posted again everywhere since the TikTok deal is drawing near. Someone is going to a lot of trouble to try to convince us all of something.
- pants2 1y agoReminder that London is the most surveilled city in the world and also has very high petty crime. Nonstop recording doesn't change anything unless laws are actually enforced.
- amai 1y agoSo lets record Larry Ellison constantly to make sure he will show best behavior.
- insane_dreamer 1y agoSure. Let's do a pilot run on billionaires, then a second pilot with the top-10%. If by then everyone still agrees, we can discuss a society-wide roll-out. Quickest way to kill this dangerous idea.
- IT4MD 1y agoProhibited content, so sayeth Dang, keeper of all words and allower of some.
- Agraillo 1y ago> ... because we are constantly recording and reporting everything that’s going on Why stop just here? It's AI, right? So it’s all about prediction - next token, next action, it doesn’t matter. Let’s turn Minority Report the movie into reality: when you’re angry at your boss while commuting home, we will watch, predict and prevent your future bad behavior.