3 ms·

> I texted with Sam Altman—who confirmed power was indeed a major constraint. Such a cheap flex right up-front, and with an em-dash to boot. I get it, it's pow

by oersted 11mo ago

> I texted with Sam Altman—who confirmed power was indeed a major constraint. Such a cheap flex right up-front, and with an em-dash to boot. I get it, it's powerful to boast about such a connection. It's just not very classy.

plorg 11mo ago
It's also a kind of ideological signpost.
salt4034 11mo ago
Here's how academics do it: > Sam Altman confirmed power was indeed a major constraint [1]. > [1]: Personal communication. Or even better: > Power is a major constraint (Sam Altman, personal communication, December 9, 2025).
georgefrowny 11mo ago
It's also such a stupid question to ask. No one doubts AI needs fuckton of power. Not the fanboys or the haters or even the don't-cares. What next? "I emailed Donald Knuth—who confirmed software does mostly run on computers"? "I at-ed the Pope who confirmed that he is currently a Catholic"?
- giancarlostoro 11mo ago
  I asked Florida man if there's a gator in the nearby lake, he said prolly
- wombatpm 11mo ago
  But if it wasn’t AI it would be something else. Remember when Bitcoin was consuming all the energy and destroying the environment?
groby_b 11mo ago
[flagged]
- codyb 11mo ago
  So many cults of personality these days between Musk, Trump, Altman, Neuman (WeWork guy)... Maybe it started with Jobs, maybe it's always been a thing in other spaces (politics, religion...) and is now coming to business and these uber wealthy individuals who put their pants on two legs at a time
  - oersted 11mo ago
    It also seemed to be like that 100-150 years ago, with all the big-name robber barons, oil/steel/rail tycoons and inventor-industrialists like Edison or Ford. There are times when concentration of capital leads to a disproportionate influence of personal relationships and one-on-one deal-making. The same can be said of political or attention capital, not just wealth. To be fair, that's also what Aristocracy always was, they were just less active in forcing their mad visions onto the world.
wombatpm 11mo ago
We’re looking at classy as a small dot in the rear view mirror with this current generation of elites.
lowkey_ 11mo ago
I didn't read it that way because Boom went through YC while Sam was president of YC. The connection makes a lot of sense, and dates back to pre-OpenAI days. I would assume he's just telling the story as it happened.

by oersted 11mo ago

plorg 11mo ago

It's also a kind of ideological signpost.

salt4034 11mo ago

Here's how academics do it: > Sam Altman confirmed power was indeed a major constraint [1]. > [1]: Personal communication. Or even better: > Power is a major constraint (Sam Altman, personal communication, December 9, 2025).

georgefrowny 11mo ago

It's also such a stupid question to ask. No one doubts AI needs fuckton of power. Not the fanboys or the haters or even the don't-cares. What next? "I emailed Donald Knuth—who confirmed software does mostly run on computers"? "I at-ed the Pope who confirmed that he is currently a Catholic"?

giancarlostoro 11mo ago
I asked Florida man if there's a gator in the nearby lake, he said prolly
wombatpm 11mo ago
But if it wasn’t AI it would be something else. Remember when Bitcoin was consuming all the energy and destroying the environment?

groby_b 11mo ago

[flagged]

codyb 11mo ago
So many cults of personality these days between Musk, Trump, Altman, Neuman (WeWork guy)... Maybe it started with Jobs, maybe it's always been a thing in other spaces (politics, religion...) and is now coming to business and these uber wealthy individuals who put their pants on two legs at a time
- oersted 11mo ago
  It also seemed to be like that 100-150 years ago, with all the big-name robber barons, oil/steel/rail tycoons and inventor-industrialists like Edison or Ford. There are times when concentration of capital leads to a disproportionate influence of personal relationships and one-on-one deal-making. The same can be said of political or attention capital, not just wealth. To be fair, that's also what Aristocracy always was, they were just less active in forcing their mad visions onto the world.

wombatpm 11mo ago

We’re looking at classy as a small dot in the rear view mirror with this current generation of elites.

lowkey_ 11mo ago

I didn't read it that way because Boom went through YC while Sam was president of YC. The connection makes a lot of sense, and dates back to pre-OpenAI days. I would assume he's just telling the story as it happened.