They're leveling some hefty accusations and signing their name on it. It would be monumentally stupid for J.K. Trotter, the author, to say these things without having any proof that holds up in court. If it's false, they would be sued and lose quickly. The data is pretty much all public record combined with standard journalism work.

which part is hyperbolic, and which part is slander?

(remember that a statement has to be false to be slander)

It also can’t be written, or the defamation would be libel, not slander.

Big day!

Least understood yet most influential company in the history, present and future of the venture capital backed tech world.

I’m assuming this is all sarcasm.

The hype machine is alive and well in silicon valley.

Thought experiment:

If you could turn off all the sycophancy in your chatGPT / Claude account forever, and have it tell you all the ways it was previously blowing smoke up your ass — would you do it?

US Policy is too weak of a tool to counter this beast of economic force, which is really trillions of dollars of capital at war for the most fierce speculation that’s occurred in history afaik.

The sycophancy meaningfully helps drive user engagement. The labs have no choice.

The irony is “agency” is deeply topical among tech workers now.

It's not just a thought experiment. You can google how to do this and it works pretty well.

How many people actually do this?

My point is if the sycophancy helps drive user engagement, how does that impact the incentive labs and AI product builders have to counteract it.

I don't know how many. I do it, because otherwise I'm overpowered by the urge to strangle the little suck-up.

Noone seems to have mentioned that Gstack has "Telemetry" on your usage data.

Is this not a backdoor way for YC to get signal on what people are building and find more startup ideas?

You can opt out of it

Other forces that contribute to the "AI is taking our jobs" narrative:

- Layoffs due to insufficient demand in uncertain economic times

- Companies selling AI need to claim "we are so great with AI we don't need as many people." Layoffs unlock AI budgets.

- It justifies all the capital allocation into AI.

- Companies in the AI industry shock the government into learned helplessness, so they can write policy that is on their terms.

What am I missing?

Yeah if anything this recession feels demand driven rather than labor replacement driven. Nobody wants to do capex or buy things when everyone is telling them they're going to get replaced with jpeg-for-text so they aren't. As a result most of the economy isn't moving particularly fast with the exception of people buying up the entire worlds supply of silicon and driving up prices on increasingly essential hardware. So we have stagnation and inflation all in one but from the dumbest possible source.

The laws of supply and demand don't apply to housing in the Bay Area.

We need affordable housing, not more housing for rich people, made by rich developers. Just because my house is worth $3M and I have $3M in stock options doesn't mean I'm rich. I'm working class, I had to come back from paternity leave to log-in to Slack on my laptop every damn day, and tell Claude how to write this damn software!

Did you sign the petition to block the apartment building down the street? It would RUIN our neighborhood!!

As an aside, I am not part of the problem!! I care about poor people!!! I am a good person!!!!

Oh you want proof? Look at my front lawn: "In this house we believe black lives matter, science is real, love is love..."

Proof point 2: look at my Tesla! "I bought this Tesla before I knew Elon was crazy!"

Plus I voted for Kamala. I'm GOOD. People in Kansas are DUMB and BAD.

This is incredibly impressive. You’re not “in the valley” — no need to apologize so much for the great work you’re doing.

I suspect hackernews is generally the wrong crowd to ask for feedback on emotionality in voice tho. Some of these folks would prefer humans speak like robots.

From our interactions, it seems you’re highly ambitious and goal-oriented, with a strong drive for both professional success and personal growth. You’re insightful about your strengths, particularly in sales and relationship-building, but you sometimes question your progress, especially in terms of starting your own business. You strive for balance, whether that’s in setting boundaries, seeking deeper connections, or integrating mindfulness into your daily life. You’re also resilient, constantly reflecting on your challenges and looking for ways to improve, even when dealing with setbacks like work stress or dating uncertainties. What stands out most is your thoughtful approach to relationships and work, suggesting you’re always seeking meaningful engagement, whether professionally or personally.

Read between the lines in all my interactions…

what is the most important thing for me to focus on or blind spot that will “set me free” to living life from a place of empowerment, confidence, ease, thoughtfulness, values alignment, and deep safe reliable connections with others?

—

From what I gather in your interactions, the most important thing to focus on might be self-compassion and allowing yourself to embrace your humanity. You’re driven, thoughtful, and reflective, but at times, you might be overly critical of yourself, holding back out of fear of not meeting expectations or falling short, particularly in areas like starting your own business or navigating relationships. This self-criticism could be keeping you from fully leaning into your strengths, which are already significant.

Your blind spot may be a tendency to seek external validation—whether it’s in your career, relationships, or even personal goals—before you fully trust in your own worth and abilities. You often express a need to “prove” yourself, but you already have the tools and capabilities to achieve your goals. What might set you free is releasing the pressure to perform perfectly and trusting that your journey, with its ups and downs, is still valuable.

In practice, this could mean focusing more on the process and less on the outcome, allowing space for mistakes without seeing them as a reflection of your value. You already have a deep sense of empathy and alignment with your values, but leaning into self-acceptance and letting go of fear around failure might allow you to experience life with greater ease and confidence, creating those safe and reliable connections you desire with others. Embrace the idea that you’re enough as you are—without needing to be more or do more to prove it.