Politics

Clément Delangue briefed the UN Security Council on September 23, 2026, advocating for open-source AI as essential to global security. After Hugging Face defended against a July 2026 AI agent cyberattack, Delangue testified: "The biggest risk is not powerful AI, it's asymmetry of powerful AI" and "The world needs open source AI more than ever to defend itself." He called for mandatory incident disclosure standards and cautioned against fear-based narratives using "anthropomorphic framing and sci-fi imagery."

Ousted as Better.com CEO on August 3, 2026, Garg launched a proxy fight to retake control. He hired attorney Alex Spiro, secured majority shareholder support, and proposed working for $1 salary until profitability plus investing $5M personally. The board voted unanimously (except Garg) to remove him, citing "serious concerns regarding his judgment, temperament and credibility." Better's stock had lost over 90% of its value under his leadership.

Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev personally spoke with President Trump and committed to making "Trump Accounts as robust and intuitive as possible." The Treasury selected Robinhood to help power Trump Accounts—tax-deferred custodial investment accounts for children born 2025-2028 with a $1,000 seed from the government. Tenev said the program could become "the biggest element of long-term saving and investing in this country within possibly even a decade."

Donated $20 million to Public First Action PAC opposing AI deregulation under the Trump administration. Lobbying spending more than tripled between 2024 and 2025. In March 2026, after being labeled a Pentagon "supply-chain risk" for refusing to allow Claude to be used for autonomous weapons or domestic mass surveillance, Anthropic sued the Trump administration. CEO Amodei called the designation illegal retaliation against protected speech.

Endorsed Kamala Harris and donated $214K+ to Democratic candidates before 2024 election, including to Biden, Clinton, and the DNC. Wrote a now-deleted Facebook post calling Trump "a serious and legitimate threat to the rule of law." In February 2026 a leaked internal memo showed Amodei told ~2,000 Anthropic staff the Trump administration was hostile to the company because it had not given "dictator-style praise" to Trump and refused to donate to him. He publicly apologized after the memo leaked.

On February 2026 earnings call, Xu responded to AI agents competition: "We're going to be the best place to solve the end-to-end job for customers. AI agents may handle the first few steps of food delivery, but DoorDash can orchestrate the whole thing." Focus on pragmatic business outcomes over political positioning. Wants "everyone in the company, not just engineers, to be as AI capable as anyone else."

Donated $1M to Trump-Vance inaugural committee. Contributed to Trump's $300M White House ballroom project.

Silver Lake is a lead investor in the Trump administration's TikTok restructuring deal, approved in 2025. The $14 billion U.S. joint venture, led by Oracle, gives Silver Lake approximately 50% ownership alongside Oracle, with ByteDance retaining less than 20%. Larry Ellison took a board seat. Trump credited TikTok's 170 million American users as pivotal in his re-election. The deal satisfied the 2024 law mandating divestment of TikTok's U.S. operations from Chinese ownership.

Valenzuela stated that AI regulation will "stifle" innovation and he won't "put the genie back in the bottle." On job losses, he told KCRW in September 2025 that while AI will lead to "some job losses," it will ultimately "be a boon to filmmakers," comparing current backlash to the arrival of sound in film. He regretted polarized AI discussions: "It's really hard to get nuanced conversations. We get into extremes. This is either destroying everything we know or it is the best thing we've ever seen." In October 2024, he wrote that "Runway is not an AI company. Runway is a media and entertainment company."

When Trump proposed capping credit card interest at 10%, Siemiatkowski publicly agreed: "Trump is right on this" and noted "Interest rate caps work well in many countries." Also stated: "I love capitalism — as long as democracy puts some limits to its most shameless actions." Criticized both left-wing calls to "stop progress" on AI and right-wing dismissals that "new jobs" will naturally appear. Represents business leader advocating regulated markets rather than laissez-faire approach.

Holz faces major copyright lawsuits from Disney and Universal (June 2025) and Warner Bros. Discovery (September 2025), alleging Midjourney "pirated entire libraries of their most iconic characters—Darth Vader, Elsa, the Minions—without permission." Holz addressed lawsuits in weekly user calls saying "I think Midjourney is going to be around for a very long time." In August 2025, Midjourney announced a technology licensing partnership with Meta, signaling industry acceptance despite legal challenges.

Circle filed for IPO with the SEC in January 2024, relaunching plans after December 2022 delay. The company listed on NYSE on June 5, 2025, with JPMorgan and Citigroup as lead underwriters. Circle navigated evolving crypto regulation, with nearly all revenue from stablecoin reserves ($1.7B in 2024). The IPO signaled crypto industry maturation as public markets opened to stablecoin issuers. Circle maintained regulatory engagement across jurisdictions including Singapore, Japan, and the US.

At the 2025 Masters of Scale Summit, stated he tries not to wade into political topics, describing politics as "inherently divisive" and incompatible with Airbnb's unifying mission. Noted that millions of Trump and Harris supporters literally stayed in each other's homes through Airbnb during the 2024 election, making partisan stances a business liability.

Ek's personal investment firm Prima Materia invested €600M+ in Helsing, a German military AI company, in June 2025, sparking an artist boycott. Massive Attack, Deerhoof, and others pulled music from Spotify under the "No Music for Genocide" campaign, linking Ek's defense investments to Israeli military operations. Ek announced his departure as Spotify CEO in late 2025, making no public statement about the boycotts.

Led DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) from January to May 2025. Originally promised $2T in savings, revised to $150B. Called effort "somewhat successful" and said he would not do it again.

Elon Musk led the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), initially targeting $2 trillion in federal budget cuts. Claimed $160 billion in savings. Departed DOGE in May 2025 after his 130-day special government employee term.

Gumroad founder and CEO Sahil Lavingia joined DOGE on March 17, 2025 as an unpaid software engineer at the Department of Veterans Affairs. He had access to HR data for all 473,000 VA employees including Social Security numbers and compensation. Lavingia worked on modernizing the VA's internal ChatGPT tool (VAGPT) and weighed in on the VA's plans to eliminate 83,000 jobs. He was removed 55 days later after discussing his work with Fast Company.

Tesla's brand value dropped $15.4 billion (36%) in 2025. Profits dropped 71% on weak sales and anti-Musk sentiment. European sales fell 49% YoY; German sales fell 76% after Musk endorsed the far-right AfD party.

Positioned YC toward Trump's Washington after his San Francisco political network lost in November 2024. Organized a "Little Tech Competition Summit" on Trump's April 2, 2025 Liberation Day with FTC and DOJ antitrust enforcers. Launched "Garry's List," a 501(c)(4) dark-money group targeting all 58 California counties. Called himself "a San Francisco Democrat" while building a Trump-aligned lobbying infrastructure. Pushed back on Trump's H-1B fee as "kneecapping startups."

Joined Meta's board of directors in April 2025 — during Meta's simultaneous rollback of DEI programs and political realignment with the Trump administration — without public comment on those changes. Testified before the House in March 2025 on innovation policy advocating for deregulatory pro-growth stance. Featured in Cato Institute publications on innovation, signaling libertarian-leaning intellectual engagement.

Shopify removed itself from Canada's flagship tech lobbying coalition in 2022 and has avoided formal partisan endorsements. CEO Tobi Lütke admires Elon Musk and has adopted anti-DEI and AI-efficiency rhetoric, while stopping short of formal political endorsements or donations. Hundreds of Canadian tech leaders condemned Shopify's DEI rollbacks in an open letter signed by 400+ executives in early 2025.

Purchased NGP VAN, the Democratic Party's long-standing political software and data system, in 2021 for $700 million, renaming it Bonterra. As of April 2025, Democratic Party-connected clients have argued for alternatives due to allegations of significant layoffs and budget cuts since the acquisition. The company stores data for the DNC and serves Democratic campaigns nationwide.

Member of the influential PayPal mafia alongside Musk, Thiel, and David Sacks (Trump's crypto czar), though maintains friendships "deeper than politics." Stated his support for Israel, belief in skilled immigration, and called the January 6, 2021 insurrection "a disgrace." Describes Affirm as "a moral capitalist enterprise" that rejects practices that would embarrass employees, reflecting centrist business values distinct from the more politically active PayPal alumni.

Cohere under CEO Aidan Gomez lobbied the Canadian government on AI policy and funding from the 2024 budget AI compute fund. Per the Canadian lobbying registry, Cohere engaged with Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED), Public Safety Canada, and Members of Parliament on budget, government procurement, and international AI competitiveness. In March 2025, the House Judiciary Committee sent Cohere a letter regarding the Biden administration's efforts to push AI companies to mitigate "harmful bias" in models.

Lütke has styled himself after Elon Musk's anti-woke tech culture: described DEI programs as "side quests," celebrated Shopify's AI-first pivot in DOGE-style efficiency terms, and drew sharp criticism from 400+ Canadian tech leaders for rolling back Shopify's Build Black and Build Native diversity programs in early 2025. He has not made formal partisan political donations or endorsements.

TPG presents a contradictory picture on social issues. While leading climate investing through its $7.3B Rise Climate fund and Global South Initiative, the firm simultaneously removed DEI language from SEC filings and cited anti-DEI executive orders as business risks. TPG went public in 2022 with a focus on impact investing, but its 2024 filings show significant retreat from diversity commitments alongside peer firms like Carlyle and Apollo.

Tim Cook met with Trump multiple times to negotiate tariff exemptions for iPhones. Apple received exemptions while committing to $500B+ US investment over four years.

Perret says he tries to keep "blinders" to D.C. politics while acknowledging regulatory shifts directly impact Plaid. On CFPB: consumer data access is "apolitical" regardless of bureau's fate. On Trump administration: "We're waiting with bated breath to see what's going to happen" but suggested "fintech summer" possible with venture capitalists in D.C. Noted it "won't be a smooth ride" as administration irons out policy priorities.

General Catalyst's policy arm, the General Catalyst Institute (GCI), submitted policy recommendations to the Trump White House for its inaugural AI Action Plan in early 2025. GCI endorsed the bipartisan SPEED Act (H.R. 4776) to streamline energy project permitting and submitted views on AI regulatory reform, advanced manufacturing, and digital asset frameworks. The VC firm positions itself as advising both parties on startup-friendly policy while maintaining a founder-focused rather than partisan stance.

Donated $2M to Trump inauguration. Being considered to manage "Trump Accounts" program awarding $1,000 to children born 2025-2028.

Masayoshi Son announced the $500 billion Stargate AI infrastructure project from the White House alongside President Trump on January 21, 2025. SoftBank pledged $19 billion of the initial $52 billion for a 40% stake. Son serves as Stargate's chairman. The partnership positioned SoftBank as a key Trump administration ally in AI development, though it focused on infrastructure investment rather than partisan politics.

Meta donated $1 million to Trump's 2025 inaugural fund — notable because Meta did not donate to Trump's first inauguration. Mark Zuckerberg attended the inauguration in person.

Tim Cook personally donated $1 million to Trump's 2025 inaugural fund.

Attended Trump's January 20, 2025 inauguration as a VIP guest on the dais alongside Musk, Bezos, and Zuckerberg — a strategic move amid TikTok's U.S. ban threat. Had privately met Trump at Mar-a-Lago on December 16, 2024. The political courtship secured an executive order delaying the TikTok ban despite lack of a divestment deal.

DoorDash donated $1 million to Trump's 2025 inaugural fund. The company also spent $60M+ on California's Prop 22 campaign in 2020 to maintain contractor classification for Dashers. CEO Tony Xu has not made explicit partisan endorsements, but the company's political spending has consistently aligned with deregulatory priorities that protect its gig economy business model.

Figure AI severed its partnership with OpenAI in early 2025 after CEO Brett Adcock claimed a "major breakthrough" in robot intelligence made external AI partnerships unnecessary. Adcock stated: "It got to a point where we were just like, our team internally that was designing these models were running circles around OpenAI. We were just way better at this." The company reached a $39B valuation by September 2025.

General Atlantic CEO William Ford donated $1.25 million to MAGA Inc. days before Trump's January 2025 inauguration, a substantial escalation from his previous pattern of modest four- to five-figure political donations. Ford sits on the board of ByteDance (TikTok's parent company). The timing is notable: Congress had passed legislation requiring ByteDance to divest TikTok or face a ban, but Trump delayed implementation upon taking office. Ford later stated at Davos that ByteDance was "actively discussing" options to save TikTok "short of divestiture."

At France's National Assembly, Mensch warned Europe has two years to build AI infrastructure before becoming "a vassal state" dependent on the US. He framed the threat as "fundamentally an energy and compute battle": "The one who controls the chips, who controls the electrons, who has massive access to energy—that's the one who wins," noting US firms are deploying $1 trillion next year. Mensch announced plans to invest "billions" in an AI data center in Essonne. However, Mistral's 2024 partnership with Microsoft drew EU antitrust review over concerns a foreign tech giant gained outsized sway over Europe's AI champion.

Google donated $1 million to Trump's 2025 inauguration fund.

Microsoft donated $1 million to Trump's 2025 inauguration fund.

CEO Tim Cook donated $1M to Trump 2025 inaugural committee. Company pledged $100B toward U.S. manufacturing, securing tariff exemption on semiconductors.

Personally donated $1 million to Trump's 2025 inaugural fund in January 2025, framing it as "the spirit of unity" and "a great American tradition." Later told media "I'm not a political person on either side." Senator Elizabeth Warren wrote Cook accusing the donation of being an attempt to influence the incoming administration amid Apple's active DOJ antitrust lawsuit.

Criticized Trump tariffs in 2025 Stratechery interview, noting Australia's unique position: "Trump brings in his tariffs, we're the only country with a negative rate of return, we have a positive trade relationship with America and we're like, 'Wait a second, why did we get taxed?'" Acknowledged pragmatic trade-offs in sustainability, defending private jet use and Formula 1 sponsorship while pursuing climate goals. Represents business-oriented climate advocacy rather than pure activism.

Uber and CEO Dara Khosrowshahi each donated $1M to Trump inaugural fund (totaling $2M). Khosrowshahi's largest-ever political donation.

CEO Sam Altman made $1M personal donation to Trump inaugural fund.

Made $1M personal donation to Trump inaugural fund, joining Bezos and Zuckerberg.

Amazon donated $1 million to Trump's 2025 inaugural fund, a significant increase from the $58,000 it donated to his first inauguration.

Sam Altman personally donated $1 million to Trump's inaugural fund in December 2024, stating "President Trump will lead our country into the age of AI."

Jeff Bezos personally donated $1 million to Trump's 2025 inaugural fund and attended the inauguration.

Donated $1M to Trump inaugural fund after Zuckerberg met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago. First time Meta donated to any presidential inaugural.

Donated $1M to Trump inaugural fund. Bezos dined with Trump at Mar-a-Lago. Paid $40M for Melania Trump documentary on Prime.

Donated $1M to Trump inaugural fund. Dined with Trump at Mar-a-Lago. Amazon paid $40M for Melania Trump documentary. Washington Post blocked anti-Trump endorsement before election.

Donated $1M to Trump inaugural fund. Pivoted Meta hard right. Removed fact-checkers. Dinner with Trump at Mar-a-Lago. UFC board seat with Dana White.

Zuckerberg $1M Trump donation. Lifted Trump suspension. Sheryl Sandberg replaced by no DEI advocate. Joel Kaplan elevated.

Amazon Bezos donated $1M to Trump inaugural. Washington Post blocked anti-Trump endorsement. AWS government focus.

Named White House AI and Crypto Czar by Trump on December 5, 2024. Served as Special Government Employee guiding AI/crypto policy. Key outcomes: revoked Biden AI executive order, established Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, passed GENIUS Act (first federal stablecoin law), and released "Winning the AI Race" action plan. Stepped down March 2026 after 130-day SGE limit.

Named Trump White House AI policy advisor. Former a16z GP. Close to Elon Musk. Ex-Twitter and Meta. Connected to immigration controversy.

Met with Trump after 2024 election. Praised "badass" survival after assassination attempt.

Josh Kushner, Thrive Capital founder, has deep White House connections: his brother Jared is Trump's son-in-law and his father Charles is U.S. Ambassador to France (pardoned by Trump after 2005 conviction). Despite family ties, Kushner is described as "a lifelong Democrat." When asked about Elon Musk's government role, Kushner praised him: "I have extreme confidence that he is always going to do what he thinks is right for all Americans."

CEO Safra Catz served on Trump transition team 2016. Larry Ellison close personal friend of Trump, hosted fundraiser at estate. Company pivoted hard right under Trump 2.0.

Close Trump friend. Hosted fundraiser at Lanai estate. Called Trump "good for the country." Oracle benefits from government contracts.

CEO Guillermo Rauch posted on X after the 2024 election: "Congrats President Trump. Excited about the impact X, prediction markets, citizen journalism, podcasts, and the open web played in fostering democracy and a free media. It's a new world." The post drew backlash; some developers announced they were migrating to Netlify, Cloudflare Pages, and other competitors. Middle East Eye reported one Vercel employee resigned publicly over the controversy.

Posted on X on November 6, 2024: "Congrats President Trump. Excited about the impact X, prediction markets, citizen journalism, podcasts, and the open web played in fostering democracy and a free media. It's a new world." Developer community reaction was mixed; some migrated projects to competitors like Netlify and Cloudflare Pages, while others defended his right to personal expression. The company later raised $300M at $9.3B valuation.

Peter Thiel major Trump ally since 2016. Spoke at 2016 RNC. Invested in Rumble. Portfolio includes Palantir (ICE contracts), Anduril (defense). JD Vance, Thiel protégé, became VP. Fund embodies tech-right movement.

Dustin Moskovitz was the largest Bay Area donor in the 2024 election cycle, contributing $51 million—primarily through the pro-Kamala Harris PAC Future Forward. FEC records show $50 million to Future Forward PAC, $929,600 to Harris Victory Fund, $413,000 to the DNC, and donations to nearly every state Democratic party. Moskovitz has vocally opposed Donald Trump in 2016, 2020, and 2024, and was the second-largest Democratic donor overall in 2024.

Kleiner Perkins Chairman John Doerr, with a net worth of $7.9 billion, backed Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election. Doerr contributed $510,000 to the Harris Victory Fund and $832,600 to the Biden Action Fund. Kleiner Perkins announced an $825 million fund (KP21) in 2024 dedicated to early-stage Seed and Series A investments, maintaining active investment activity with 38 new investments in 12 months as of October 2026.

Vinod Khosla donated $413K to Harris Action Fund. Called Trump a "convicted felon, charged rapist" with "depraved values." Publicly clashed with Musk over Trump endorsement. Said "democracy is on the line."

Co-founders Andreessen and Horowitz each donated $2.5M to pro-Trump super PAC. Cited SEC enforcement against 30+ portfolio companies under Biden as key factor.

Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz each donated $2.5M to Trump super PAC "Right For America" in October 2024. Total $24M+ in 2024 election donations. Andreessen advises Musk's DOGE. Neither previously donated to presidential campaigns.

Endorsed and heavily funded Trump in 2024. Now leads DOGE. Largest individual political donor.

Perplexity launched an election information hub in October 2024, drawing criticism from journalists for AI-generated political content lacking verification.

Endorsed Trump for the 2024 election in September 2024, citing lawfare as the trigger: "It was the lawfare that brought me off the sidelines. It's really disgusting behavior." Said Trump 2024 was better than 2016 because he's now surrounded by "incredibly competent people" like Elon Musk instead of neocons.

Hosted a JD Vance fundraiser for Trump's presidential campaign in September 2024. Has publicly supported Trump since 2020. Said Trump 2024 differs from 2016 because he's surrounded by better people. His husband Jacob Helberg donated $2M to Trump's 2024 campaign.

Anthropic has expressed support for AI regulation including SB 1047, while opposing aspects that would chill research. CEO Dario Amodei testified before US Senate on AI risks.

Luan structured the 2024 Adept-Amazon deal unusually to protect investors. Unlike typical acqui-hires, Amazon didn't buy Adept and didn't directly pay investors. According to Semafor, Adept's co-founders "didn't want their backers to lose money, so they arranged for them to be made whole using funds paid by Amazon." This came after talks with Meta and Microsoft fell through. Adept had raised $415M+ at $1B+ valuation since 2022 but struggled to bring products to market. The deal allowed Amazon to gain talent and technology while Adept continues operating independently.

Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz endorsed Trump in 2024.

Endorsed Trump in July 2024 with Ben Horowitz, citing crypto regulation and opposition to unrealized capital gains tax. Each donated $2.5M to pro-Trump super PAC.

Endorsed Trump with Andreessen in July 2024. Donated $2.5M to pro-Trump PAC. Cited crypto regulation as key factor despite no prior presidential campaign donations.

Endorsed Trump in 2024. Wrote Techno-Optimist Manifesto.

Major Trump donor and supporter. Spoke at 2016 RNC. Funded JD Vance's campaign.

Donated $7 million to a pro-Harris super PAC in July 2024 — his largest ever single political donation. Publicly called on Biden to withdraw from the race in July 2024. In March 2025, donated $2 million to support Ukraine and $2 million to a California redistricting campaign supporting Democrats ahead of 2026 midterms.

Upside Foods faced a politically charged environment as states moved to ban cultivated meat. Florida's ban took effect July 1, 2024, and Alabama followed. The company, which received FDA and USDA approval in 2023 to sell cultivated chicken, found itself at the center of culture war politics. Conservative legislators framed lab-grown meat as a threat to traditional agriculture. Upside Foods advocated for consumer choice but saw its addressable market shrink as bans spread.

David Sacks co-hosted Trump San Francisco fundraiser in June 2024 raising $12M. All-In podcast amplified Trump positions. Now serves as White House AI and Crypto Czar under Trump. Fund partners include Peter Thiel.

Chamath Palihapitiya co-hosted Trump fundraiser with Sacks in June 2024. Previously supported Yang and was Democrat. All-In podcast co-host. Flip-flopped on Trump - initially critical, now supportive. Called "tech contrarian."

Hosted a Trump presidential campaign fundraiser at his home in June 2024, raising approximately $12 million. Also spoke at the 2024 Republican National Convention and voted for Trump. Hosted fundraiser with fellow PayPal mafia members Elon Musk and Peter Thiel.

In 2024, Karp said he would "vote against Trump" while criticizing the direction of the Democratic Party, describing himself as a disappointed Democrat. He held Palantir's first 2024 board meeting in Tel Aviv to show solidarity with Israel and has championed Western democratic values and military AI development as a patriotic duty, while defying easy partisan categorization.

Mistral AI received public support from French President Emmanuel Macron and benefits from close ties with the French government, positioning as a national champion.

Josh Kushner (Jared Kushner's brother) has maintained distance from Trump despite family ties. Donated to Democrats. Wife Karlie Kloss is vocal Democrat. Firm focuses on tech investing separate from political controversy.

CEO Garry Tan heavily involved in SF politics. Moved YC headquarters back to SF, said founders "have to be in San Francisco." Donated $400K+ to moderate political causes.

CEO Garry Tan made controversial "die slow" post toward SF supervisors in January 2024. Advocates for tech-friendly politics. YC historically non-partisan but Tan pushes founder advocacy. Sam Altman (OpenAI) is YC alum.

In November 2023, reporter Jonathan Katz identified at least 16 newsletters with Nazi imagery on Substack. Nearly 250 writers petitioned the company to clarify its stance. In January 2024, major newsletter Platformer left the platform, with founder Casey Newton saying they could no longer "stay in good conscience." Substack removed five publications but defended hosting other extremist content. In July 2025, Substack sent users a push notification promoting a National Socialist newsletter, calling it a "serious system error."

Peter Thiel's firm. Major Trump and Republican donors.

Posted tweet wishing death on SF Board of Supervisors members. Donated ~$400K to SF political causes focused on housing, schools, and public safety. Called for tech leaders to engage in SF politics.

Patrick Collison apolitical publicly. Stripe Atlas helps global entrepreneurs. But processes payments for controversial platforms.

Trump supporter. Funded Nimble America (pro-Trump memes). Fired from Facebook over political activities. MAGA defense tech.

All-In podcast host. Trump supporter. Called for deregulation. Close to David Sacks and Chamath. Early Uber investor.

Anthropic avoids partisan politics. But Palantir partnership raises defense concerns. Constitutional AI approach.

Shou Zi Chew TikTok CEO navigating US ban threat. Congressional testimony. ByteDance CCP concerns.

Google historically donates to both parties. Sundar Pichai testified to Congress. Employee walkouts over contracts.

Apple Tim Cook maintained relationships across aisle. Privacy fights with government. China manufacturing ties.

Microsoft donates to both parties. Brad Smith lobbied for AI regulation. Government contracts focus.

Nvidia Jensen Huang apolitical publicly. Export controls debate. China restrictions. Bipartisan chip support.

Greylock Reid Hoffman Democrat. But firm invests across spectrum. Not as political as a16z.

NEA traditional VC. Not politically vocal. Diverse portfolio.

Evan Spiegel Snap relatively apolitical. Los Angeles based. Less MAGA than peers.

Stewart Butterfield Slack founder. Canadian. Less political than US tech leaders.

Dylan Field Figma CEO apolitical. Design focus. Adobe acquisition blocked.

Ivan Zhao Notion founder. Product focused. Not politically vocal.

Sergey Brin Google co-founder reclusive. Named in Epstein files. Limited public statements.

Bill Gates philanthropy focus. Epstein connections damaged reputation. Gates Foundation work.

Steven Sinofsky a16z board partner. Epstein files. Microsoft Windows legacy.

Larry Page Google co-founder extremely reclusive. Alphabet resignation 2019. Named in Epstein files.

Summit Partners maintains a relatively low political profile compared to other major PE firms. The Boston-based growth equity firm, founded in 1984, focuses on technology, healthcare, and growth services investments. Summit closed its credit arm's new investments in early 2024 after fundraising struggles, pivoting back to its core growth equity focus. The firm has not been associated with major political donations or controversies, maintaining institutional LP relationships across political spectrums.

Dragoneer Investment Group and founder Marc Stad maintain a low political profile. The San Francisco-based growth equity firm focuses on technology investments without publicly disclosed political donations or stances. Portfolio companies span politically diverse sectors: SpaceX (48% of portfolio, major government contractor), Amazon (10.7%), and defense AI company Helsing. Unlike some prominent VC founders who endorsed candidates in 2024, Stad and Dragoneer have not taken public political positions, maintaining a business-focused rather than ideological investment approach.

TCV maintains a low political profile despite managing $20B+ in assets. Founded in 1995 by Richard Kimball and Jay Hoag in Menlo Park, the firm focuses exclusively on growth-stage technology investments without public political positions. TCV launched Technology Crossover Ventures XII ($3B) in 2024, continuing its sector-agnostic technology focus. Unlike more politically active VC firms, TCV's leadership has not made public endorsements or significant disclosed political contributions.

Donated to both parties. Testified before Congress on AI regulation. Worldcoin project raises privacy concerns. Fired then rehired in board coup.

The House Select Committee on the CCP launched a bipartisan investigation into Sequoia Capital China in October 2023, documenting over $3 billion in investments that "contributed to the CCP's human rights abuses, the PRC's military modernization, and its overall efforts to undermine U.S. technological leadership." Investments included 4Paradigm ($700M for PLA battlefield programs), DJI (drones used in Uyghur surveillance), DeepGlint (blacklisted facial recognition), and EverSec (AI for PLA platforms). Sequoia China rebranded as HongShan in March 2024.

In July 2023, the U.S. House Select Committee on China announced investigation of GGV Capital's China exposure. The committee cited a study showing GGV conducted 43 investment transactions with Chinese AI companies from 2015-2021, more than any other firm examined. The February 2024 bipartisan report found five VC firms invested $3B in Chinese companies that "facilitate human rights abuses." Under congressional pressure, GGV split its US and China operations in September 2023 into "completely independent" firms, rebranding the US entity as Notable Capital in March 2024.

Bolt and founder Ryan Breslow faced an SEC investigation in 2023 over allegations of misleading investors during its $355M Series E fundraise at an $11B valuation. Investor Activant Capital sued Breslow, alleging he took a $30M personal loan secured by Bolt shares, then used company funds to repay it after defaulting. The suit settled with Bolt canceling $37M of Breslow's shares. The company's valuation collapsed from $11B to $300M by 2024.

Forbes investigations revealed Mostaque exaggerated his credentials and institutional affiliations. He claimed partnerships with UNESCO, OECD, WHO, and World Bank that those organizations denied. He exaggerated educational achievements and links to Amazon Web Services. A failed negotiation with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang ended in disaster: "Under Jensen's microscopic questions, Emad just fell apart," a source told Forbes. Stability AI also faced accusations of attacking rival Midjourney by scraping their platform, temporarily bringing down their service.

OpenAI navigating political pressure. GPT alignment criticized by both sides. Sam Altman testified to Congress.

The IRS donated Chainalysis licenses to Ukraine, and approximately 50 Ukrainian law enforcement officers received training to track Russian individuals using cryptocurrency to evade sanctions after the 2022 invasion. Chainalysis also launched free sanctions screening tools (an on-chain oracle and API) in March 2022 to help decentralized platforms comply with sanctions against Russian entities. The company monitors for on-chain indicators of crypto-based sanctions evasion and alerts government partners of relevant activity.

Alibaba operates under significant Chinese government influence. In 2020, regulators halted Ant Group's $37B IPO (the largest ever planned) after co-founder Jack Ma criticized regulators. Ma subsequently disappeared from public view for months. Alibaba was fined $2.8 billion in 2021 for antitrust violations. The company censors content on its platforms per government direction and has faced pressure to align with Party priorities. Founder Jack Ma ceded control of Ant Group in early 2023.

Works with ICE and military. Peter Thiel is co-founder. Karp defends government work as patriotic duty.

Hillhouse Capital founder Zhang Lei holds multiple positions advising the Hong Kong and Chinese governments, including the Hong Kong Exchange (HKEX) Mainland China Advisory Group, the Hong Kong Financial Services Development Council, and the China-United States Exchange Foundation governing board. In October 2022, Zhang met with Shanghai's top Communist Party official Chen Jining. Hillhouse also partnered with the Xishan district government to establish a 5 billion yuan ($783.5 million) government-backed VC fund.

DST Global publicly condemned "Russia's war against Ukraine, its sovereign neighbour" and founder Yuri Milner renounced his Russian citizenship in 2022. Milner pledged $100 million to aid Ukrainian refugees and the Breakthrough Prize Foundation granted $3 million to Ukrainian scientists. However, early DST investments were partially funded by VTB Bank (Kremlin-owned), and Milner invested $850,000 in Cadre, a platform co-founded by Jared Kushner. DST maintains no Russia office or investments.

ICONIQ Impact partnered with Lever for Change to administer the $22 million Stronger Democracy Award, aimed at improving political representation and increasing participation in the United States' democratic process. An anonymous donor from the ICONIQ Impact community contributed $10 million of the total. Winners included City Bureau's Documenters Network (which trains people to document government meetings) and Accelerate Change's Civic Revolution initiative. Finalists were announced February 3, 2022; winners announced July 7, 2022.

Founders Fund Peter Thiel major Trump donor. Supported J.D. Vance for Senate. MAGA aligned.

After Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Prince rejected Ukrainian Deputy PM Mykhailo Fedorov's call to cut off Russian internet access, arguing Russians deserve access to information about the war. Cloudflare continued operating in Russia while donating services to Ukrainian critical infrastructure. Prince stated: "It's very important for a deep infrastructure company like Cloudflare to be content neutral" while making exceptions for platforms inciting violence (Daily Stormer, 8chan, Kiwi Farms). Approach prioritizes information access over sanctions.

After PandaDoc co-founders Mikita Mikado and Sergey Barysiuk openly supported the 2020 Belarus protests against President Lukashenko and offered financial assistance to police officers who refused to suppress protesters, Belarusian authorities retaliated. On September 2, 2020, authorities raided the Minsk office, questioned over 100 employees, and detained 7, with product manager Viktor Kuvshinov spending over one year in prison. PandaDoc immediately ceased Belarus operations, relocated employees, opened offices in Ukraine and Poland, and formally liquidated its Belarusian entity on February 3, 2022.

Robinhood GameStop controversy. Congressional testimony. Populist trading platform with elite backing.

Vista Equity founder Robert Smith, the wealthiest Black man in America, admitted to evading $43M+ in taxes over 15 years using offshore accounts. He reached a $139M non-prosecution agreement with the DOJ in October 2020, avoiding prison by cooperating against Texas billionaire Robert Brockman in the "largest ever" tax fraud case. Smith acknowledged filing false tax forms repeatedly. The settlement roiled Vista, with LPs feeling misled about the extent of his legal troubles.

CEO Brian Armstrong declared Coinbase would not engage in social activism. "Mission-focused" only.

Declared Coinbase would not engage with social or political issues.

Brian Armstrong declared Coinbase "mission-focused." Anti-activism policy. Crypto libertarian.

Michael Seibel became Reddit's first Black board member in June 2020 during the George Floyd protests, replacing co-founder Alexis Ohanian who resigned demanding a Black replacement. Seibel accepted the role as Reddit faced pressure from 650+ communities demanding action on hate speech. He previously served as finance director for Kweisi Mfume's (NAACP president) Senate campaign and has been recognized for promoting diversity in venture capital.

Tencent facilitates Chinese government censorship and surveillance at significant scale. Citizen Lab found Tencent surveils foreign WeChat users to refine domestic censorship algorithms. BBC described WeChat as "powerful weapon of social control." In 2019, content of millions of conversations on Tencent apps at internet cafés was relayed to police stations along with user identities. Company uses AI to assign users "risk scores" based on online activity with penalties for violations.

KKR executives donated heavily to Republican lawmakers to preserve the carried interest tax loophole. In 2017, KKR along with Blackstone and Carlyle gave a combined $1.31 million to GOP lawmakers versus $438,000 to Democrats. House Ways and Means Committee chief Kevin Brady received $25,000 from KKR executives alone that year. The industry successfully convinced the Trump administration and GOP Congress to retain the loophole, saving PE firms an estimated $2 billion annually despite Trump's campaign promise to eliminate it.

Joined Trump business council 2017, then quit after backlash. CloudKitchens now operates globally. Politically opportunistic.

Travis Kalanick briefly joined Trump council then quit. CloudKitchens globally. Opportunistic.