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Jan Sramek has spent the past several months in restaurants and conference rooms pitching politicians, environmentalists and labor unions on a plan to erect a new California city on open farmland in an eastern corner of the San Francisco Bay Area. The project is backed by a host of big Silicon Valley names, including the venture capitalists Michael Moritz and Marc Andreessen, the LinkedIn co-founder, Reid Hoffman, and the Emerson Collective founder, Laurene Powell Jobs. At an event Wednesday evening, Mr. Sramek, the chief executive of a company called California Forever, took his case to the Solano County voters. Mr. Sramek took it in stride, patiently answering questions and appearing mostly unruffled. He promised improved infrastructure, employment and middle-class homes for the county’s 450,000 residents.

Persons: Jan Sramek, Michael Moritz, Marc Andreessen, Reid Hoffman, Laurene Powell Jobs, Sramek, ”, “ Flannery Will Ruin Organizations: San Francisco Bay Area, LinkedIn, Emerson Collective, Solano County voters, Vallejo Naval, Historical Museum Locations: California, San Francisco Bay, Solano County

☆ The top 9 AI people in finance
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-24 | by ( Bianca Chan | Leena Rao | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Business Insider's 2023 AI 100 list included several experts from the world of finance. These people blend AI know-how with experience in trading, payments, VC, and other finance sectors. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . AdvertisementGenerative AI is the hottest venture capital investment theme in at least a decade. Business Insider's 2023 AI 100 list includes several experts who combine AI know-how with experience in areas of finance such as payments, trading, banking, financial data, and startup investing.

Persons: Sarah Guo, Reid Hoffman, Sonya Huang, — Organizations: Service, Business

☆ OpenAI’s Cast of Characters
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-22 | by ( Jennifer Korn | Paul Glader | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

Before OpenAI, Altman was president of Y Combinator, mentoring a host of founders and expanding his network in Silicon Valley. “We are encouraged by the changes to the OpenAI board,” he wrote on X on Wednesday. Mira MuratiNamed by the OpenAI board as Altman’s interim successor on Friday, Murati was replaced by Shear before the weekend was done. In September, she joined the board of directors of Shield AI, a defense technology company building AI pilot technology for aircraft. Will HurdAfter joining the OpenAI board in 2021, Hurd was the third director to exit in 2023.

Persons: OpenAI, Sam Altman, Altman, Elon, Satya Nadella, OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Kiko, Emmett Shear, Y, Nadella, ”, Mira Murati, Murati, Shear, “ Mira, ” Nadella, Ilya Sutskever, Brockman, Sutskever, “, we’ve, Adam D’Angelo D’Angelo, Mark Zuckerberg, D’Angelo, Forbes, ” Bret Taylor, Bret Taylor, Elon Musk, Taylor, Justin Kan, Tasha McCauley McCauley, Joseph Gordon, Levitt, McCauley, Greg Brockman Greg Brockman, Peter Thiel, Musk, Helen Toner Toner, AI’s, Toner, Joshua Kushner Kushner, Kushner, Jared Kushner, Karlie Kloss, Charles Kushner, Donald Trump, Larry Summers Summers, Obama, Clinton, Summers, Shivon Zilis, Zilis, Walter Isaacson, Will Hurd, Hurd, Nikki Haley, Reid Hoffman, Hoffman, OpenAI . Hoffman, He’s Organizations: CNN, Stanford University, Microsoft, OpenAI, Colby College, Dartmouth University, Tesla, Time, Phillips Exeter Academy, California Institute of Technology, Facebook, Twitter, Google, Yale University, Justin.tv, GeoSim Systems, Rand Corporation, Centre, Bard College, University of Southern, Harvard University, MIT, Elon, Georgetown’s Center for Security, Emerging Technology, Open, Oscar Health, Memphis Grizzlies, Harvard College, Harvard Business School, Republican, CIA, Allen & Company, Texas, M University, Reid Hoffman LinkedIn, PayPal, LinkedIn, Greylock Partners, SpaceX, Boring Company Locations: Silicon Valley, St, Louis , Missouri, OpenAI, Seattle , Washington, Israel, University of Southern California, North Dakota, Beijing, Georgetown, Canada, United States, Texas, Oxford

☆ Inflection AI's Mustafa Suleyman tells OpenAI staff 'come run with us' after 'utterly insane' weekend
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-21 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Mustafa Suleyman told OpenAI staff "come run with us" after a "utterly insane" weekend. The Inflection AI cofounder and CEO used an X post to promote his own firm and its progress. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . AdvertisementThe cofounder of Inflection AI weighed in on the "utterly insane" weekend experienced by its rival OpenAI and told workers to "come run with us." It's now the 2nd best LLM in the world ... & we're scaling MUCH further," Suleyman said in an X post .

Persons: Mustafa Suleyman, OpenAI, —, who's, It's, Suleyman, — Mustafa Suleyman, @mustafasuleyman, OpenAI's ChatGPT, Sam Altman, reinstates Altman, Kelsey Laymon, Marc Benioff, Eric Schmidt, Bill Gates, Reid Hoffman, DeepMind Organizations: Service, Microsoft, Nvidia, Forbes, TechCrunch, Paypal, Google, Business

While OpenAI later transitioned to a for-profit model, its controlling shareholder remains the nonprofit OpenAI Inc. and its board of directors. This unique structure made it possible for four OpenAI board members — the company's chief scientist, two outside tech entrepreneurs and an academic — to oust CEO Sam Altman on Friday. When it was founded, OpenAI’s original board co-chairs were Altman and Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Musk recently launched his own AI startup, xAI, to compete with OpenAI, Microsoft and Google, among others. OpenAI's board members have not responded to requests for comment.

Persons: ChatGPT, OpenAI, Sam Altman, Berkshire Hathaway, OpenAI’s, ”, Sarah Kreps, Altman, Greg Brockman, “, Kreps, Ilya Sutskever, we’ve, Adam D’Angelo, Tasha McCauley, Helen Toner, Reid Hoffman, Will Hurd, Shivon Zilis, Brockman, Elon Musk, Musk, D’Angelo, tweeting, ” He’s, Matt O'Brien, Michael Liedtke Organizations: FRANCISCO, Google, Facebook, OpenAI Inc, Cornell University’s Tech Policy Institute, Microsoft Corp, Microsoft, Georgetown Center for Security, Emerging Technology, Republican U.S . Rep, Tesla, OpenAI, Associated Press Technology Locations: Berkshire, OpenAI, Will Hurd of Texas, Providence , Rhode Island, San Francisco

NEW YORK, Nov 20 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Microsoft (MSFT.O) boss Satya Nadella’s stressful weekend is probably only the beginning. A lack of corporate governance protections left Nadella with few options to salvage his company’s $13 billion investment in OpenAI. As a 49% owner of OpenAI, Microsoft could have hedged itself by getting more directly involved in oversight. Recruiting Altman is at least a better outcome for Microsoft than standing by and watching him go to Google, a rival startup or opening his own AI shop. Money and salesmanship are two essential elements of developing AI, but so are the proper controls, risk management and strategic clarity.

Persons: Satya Nadella’s, OpenAI, Sam Altman, Altman, Reid Hoffman, Elon Musk’s, Satya Nadella, Greg Brockman, OpenAI’s, Brockman, Jeffrey Goldfarb, Sharon Lam Organizations: Reuters, Microsoft, Google, Altman, Thomson Locations: OpenAI

☆ Former Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer delivers sharp-elbowed rebuke of OpenAI's 'broken' board
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-20 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Marissa Mayer slammed OpenAI's 'broken and underadvised' board on social media. AdvertisementMarissa Mayer has some harsh words for OpenAI's board. "The fact that Ilya now regrets just shows how broken and underadvised they are/were," Mayer wrote on social media. OpenAI's bylaws allow board members to both appoint and remove other board members with a majority vote, Wired reported. In the case of OpenAI, which had only six board members, a majority vote meant only four board members needed to agree on a change to approve it.

Persons: Marissa Mayer, OpenAI's, OpenAI, Sam Altman, Mayer, —, Altman, Ilya Sutskever, Sutskever, Emmett Shear, Ilya, Reid Hoffman, Shivon Zilis, Will Hurd, spokespeople, Hoffman, Brian Chesky Organizations: Yahoo, Service, Twitter, Google, Microsoft, Wired, Republican, ppl Locations: OpenAI

☆ Who's on the OpenAI board — the group behind Sam Altman's ouster
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-18 | by ( Hayden Field | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

On Friday, the board of OpenAI, the buzzy AI company behind viral chatbot ChatGPT, suddenly and publicly ousted its CEO Sam Altman. OpenAI's board said it conducted "a deliberative review process" and that Altman "was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities." She is an adjunct senior management scientist at Rand Corporation and has been on the OpenAI board since 2018. "While our partnership with Microsoft includes a multibillion-dollar investment, OpenAI remains an entirely independent company governed by the OpenAI Nonprofit," OpenAI has publicly stated. On that day, Altman told Nadella, "I think we have the best partnership in tech and I'm excited for us to build AGI together."

Persons: Sam Altman, Altman, OpenAI, Greg Brockman, Ilya Sutskever, Adam D'Angelo, Tasha McCauley, Helen Toner, Reid Hoffman, Neuralink, Zilis, Will Hurd, Brockman, Sam, Sutskever, he's, D'Angelo, McCauley, Toner, Andreessen Horowitz, AGI, weren't, Mira Murati, OpenAI's Dev, Satya Nadella, Nadella, Dev, Brad Lightcap Organizations: Thursday's APEC, Summit, Google, Facebook, OpenAI, GeoSim Systems, Rand Corporation, University of Oxford's Center, Georgetown's Center for Security, Emerging Technology, Sequoia Capital, Microsoft, CNBC, Fortune Locations: Texas, OpenAI

☆ Sam Altman out as OpenAI CEO after board loses confidence in him
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-17 | by ( Madeline Berg | Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

OpenAI's board announced CEO Sam Altman is out, effective immediately. "We are grateful for Sam's many contributions to the founding and growth of OpenAI," a statement from OpenAI's board said. Prior to OpenAI, Sam Altman was the president of Y Combinator, after his startup Loopt was part of the accelerator's first class. Taking the reins from Altman as interim CEO is Murati, who formerly led the technology team at OpenAI. AdvertisementIf you have any insight into the culture at OpenAI or Sam Altman, please reach out to the author at mberg@businessinsider.com.

Persons: Sam Altman, Mira Murati, —, ChatGPT, Altman, what's, OpenAI, Elon Musk, Greg Brockman, Trevor Blackwell, Reid Hoffman, Peter Thiel, Satya Nadella, Y Organizations: Service, Silicon, Microsoft, Google, MIT Technology, New Yorker, OpenAI Locations: OpenAI, openai

☆ AI startups struggle to not become OpenAI's 'roadkill:' 'When you step on the court with Jordan, you don't try to beat him at his game'
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-17 | by ( Darius Rafieyan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

More than 300 AI founders and investors gathered earlier this week in San Francisco's Hayes Valley neighborhood for the 2nd Cerebral Valley AI Summit, co-hosted by the independent journalist Eric Newcomer and AI gaming startup Volley. Some called it an " extinction event for other AI startups ." "OpenAI can bully everyone, they can bully the talent, they can bully the competition, they can bully the term sheets. "When you step on the court with Jordan, you don't try to beat him at his game. During his panel, Warner was asked about those who took to social network X, formerly Twitter, to proclaim the death of nascent AI startups.

Persons: Eric Newcomer, —, OpenAI, Alex Pall, That's, they're, Andrew Hoh, Reid Hoffman, Hoffman, Vinod Khosla, Khosla, Jason Warner, Warner, it's, He's, he's, Poolside, Jordan Organizations: Summit, Business, Mantis Venture Capital, Microsoft Locations: San Francisco's Hayes, Paris

☆ Ruzwana Bashir Is Quietly Connecting the Tech World
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-16 | by ( ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +18 min

Story by Melia RussellPhotography by Lelanie FosterRuzwana Bashir is ransacking her kitchen cabinet for just the right tea. Bashir wears an Erdem floral-printed bra top, Erdem skirt, Giuseppe Zanotti shoes, Old Jewelry earrings along with her own bracelet and ring. "Part of building a business was going out and sharing what you were doing with the world," Bashir says. For years Bashir's startup had been building muscle around these capabilities; now it had an eager audience. Eating at acclaimed restaurants is fine, but Bashir prefers the more-intimate affairs at tech executives' homes because, she says, "you can stay longer."

Persons: Melia Russell, Lelanie Foster Ruzwana Bashir, Peek, She's, she's, Andy Warhol, Picasso, Bashir, I'm, Andreessen Horowitz, Jack Dorsey, Eric Schmidt, Goldman Sachs, Giuseppe Zanotti, Lelanie Foster, Bashir isn't, Elon Musk, Ronan Farrow, Roelof Botha, Mustafa Suleyman, we've, Bennett Miller, Capote, " Miller, —, doesn't, didn't, Madeleine Albright, Tom Ford, Jared Cohen, Oskar Bruening, Forbes, Mark Zuckerberg, I've, Bashir wasn't, Travis Kalanick, Adam Neumann, Ty, Emily Weiss, Bashir refashioned, Donald Trump, Bruening, Laurence Tosi's, Miller, Beyoncé, shrugs, Anna Wintour, Anna, we're, Taylor Swift, Katie Haun, Marc Benioff, Reid Hoffman, Marissa Mayer, Dick Costolo —, Cohen, Katherine Maher, Maher, Daniel Kahneman, It's, Radel, Becky Akinyode, Elaine Winter, Tiffany Bloomfield, Dela, Chad Hilliard, Enmi, Kenny Aquiles Ulloa, Cyrenae, Madison Perez, Aidan Lapp, Bashira Webb, Bryan Erickson, Jinyoung Chang, Rodriguez, Rebecca Zisser, Claire Landsbaum, Emma LeGault, Joi, Marie McKenzie, Conner Blake, Kyle Desiderio, Victoria Gracie, Nicole Forero, Virginia Alves Organizations: Google, Museum of, Business, Elon, Vogue, Roelof, Oxford University, Oxford Union, Blackstone Group, Harvard Business School, Studios, Web, Young, Organization, Dela Revoluciøn, Enmi Yang Digital Tech Locations: Manhattan, SoHo, Bahamas, United States, Balthazar, England, Israel, Petra, Istanbul, Elle, Utah, COVID, Salt Lake City, Costa Rica, Atlanta, WestCap

☆ Members of the 'PayPal Mafia' include tech titans like Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, and Reid Hoffman. Here's where they are now.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-12 | by ( Tami Brehse | Kylie Kirschner | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

A group of early 2000s PayPal employees and founders came to be known as the "PayPal Mafia." The group includes Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, Reid Hoffman, and the founders of both YouTube and Yelp. NEW LOOK Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. Members of the group include Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, and Reid Hoffman, along with over a dozen others. Here's a rundown of the most prominent members of this exclusive group and what they're up to over two decades later.

Persons: Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, Reid Hoffman, —, Fortune Organizations: PayPal, Elon, YouTube, Service, LinkedIn, PayPal Mafia

☆ Reid Hoffman-backed PAC may fund primary campaign against progressives Rashida Tlaib, Cori Bush
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-02 | by ( Brian Schwartz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Mehlhorn told CNBC that he recently approached the heads of the Mainstream Democrats PAC about the idea of backing a primary effort against the two progressive House lawmakers. "I have been asking them [Mainstream Democrats PAC] if there is any possibility of ousting the most extreme members of Congress, and I have been asking about Cori Bush and Rashida Tlaib," Mehlhorn said on Wednesday. The possible primary fight would be the latest election cycle that the Mainstream Democrats PAC has moved against candidates from within the Democratic Party. The Mainstream Democrats PAC helped defeat some progressive Democrats during the 2022 congressional midterms, according to data from the nonpartisan OpenSecrets. The Democratic Majority for Israel's nonprofit donated $500,000 to the Mainstream Democrats PAC last year, according to an FEC record.

Persons: Reid Hoffman, Rashida Tlaib, Cori Bush, Dmitri Mehlhorn, Mehlhorn, Bush, Alexandria Ocasio, Cortez, Jamaal Bowman, Rashida, Hoffman, it's, Deborah Simon, Mel Simon, Daniel Benton, Paul Finnegan, Wesley Bell, Sen, Josh Hawley, Tlaib, Nina Turner, Shontel Brown, Henry Cuellar, Jessica Cisneros Organizations: LinkedIn, CNBC, Mainstream Democrats PAC, New York Democratic, Mainstream, PAC, Mainstream Democrats, Democratic Party, Democrats, Commission, FEC, Simon Property Group, Rep, Democratic, Israel Locations: New York City, U.S, Gaza, Louis, Ohio, Texas, Israel

☆ A mystery company backed by Silicon Valley elites is buying up land to build a new city. Farmers say they've been pressured to sell up.
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-31 | by ( Tom Carter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

New filings accuse the company backed by Marc Andreessen and Reid Hoffman of forcing farmers to sell up. Solano County farmers say Flannery Associates targeted them with pressure tactics and litigation. The company has bought up 52,000 acres outside San Francisco to build a utopian city. AdvertisementAdvertisementThe company that wants to create an entirely new city in California, and that's backed by Silicon Valley billionaires, has been accused of coercing farmers into selling their land. AdvertisementAdvertisementCalifornia Forever, the parent company behind Flannery Associates, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider, sent outside normal working hours.

Persons: Marc Andreessen, Reid Hoffman, Flannery, —, John Garamendi, Jan Sramek, Mark Friedman, Princess Washington Organizations: Service, Silicon, Bloomberg, California, KQED, New York Times, Flannery Associates Locations: Solano, San Francisco, California, Solano County, Sacramento, Princess, Suisun City

☆ Donald Trump and Kim Kardashian weren't rich enough to make Forbes' list of the richest Americans
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-04 | by ( Sarah Jackson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

To make Forbes' 2023 list of the 400 richest Americans, you needed a net worth of $2.9 billion. Forbes' released its annual ranking of the 400 richest Americans on Tuesday, and Trump didn't make the cut. Kardashian, the wealthiest member of the Kardashian-Jenner family with a net worth of $1.7 billion, also didn't make the list. In business, Tim Cook and Sheryl Sandberg, each with an estimated net worth of $1.8 billion, both missed the cut. The top 20 richest Americans are richer than ever before, collectively worth $1.9 trillion, according to Forbes.

Persons: Forbes, didn't, Donald Trump, Oprah Winfrey, Evan Spiegel, —, Kim Kardashian, Tim Cook, Sheryl Sandberg, Trump, Kardashian, Jenner, Jay, LeBron James, Oprah didn't, Charles Munger, Ted Turner, Reid Hoffman, Marc Andreessen, Elon Musk Organizations: Service, Trump, Apple, Forbes, Berkshire Hathaway's, CNN Locations: New York

☆ Reid Hoffman backs 'blitzscaling' AI for the 'elevation of humanity'
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-01 | by ( Polly Thompson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Reid Hoffman backed "blitzscaling" AI in an interview with Time. Hoffman is optimistic about AI, in contrast to other business leaders who want its development paused. AdvertisementAdvertisementThe LinkedIn co-founder and billionaire tech investor Reid Hoffman has again called for faster adoption of AI for "the elevation of humanity." Hoffman has invested in dozens of AI companies through his venture capital firm, Greylock Partners, and was an early investor in OpenAI. On the issue of how to instill AI with universal values within AI, Hoffman admitted that technology isn't neutral, but said developers could be make them as "humanity-positive" as possible in partnership with customers.

Persons: Reid Hoffman, Hoffman, —, ChatGPT, Steve Wozniak, Elon Musk Organizations: Service, Greylock Partners, New York Times Locations: Silicon, OpenAI

☆ The Silicon Valley investors who secretly bought up $800 million in Northern California real estate reveal unexpected plans for 'a city of yesterday'
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-26 | by ( Chris Kaye | Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A mysterious company backed by Silicon Valley investors has been purchasing land near San Francisco. They're planning to build a retro city on the 52,000 acres of farmland they bought. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . AdvertisementAdvertisementThe Silicon Valley investors that got the government's attention by gobbling up $800 million worth of land outside San Francisco say the mystery city they plan on building is, well… kinda retro. Solano County Google Maps"The plans that people put forward will be very inspired by those great old American neighborhoods that someone who was born 100 years ago will recognize," Sramek told KQED.

Persons: —, we've, Jan Sramek, Sramek, Goldman Sachs, Marc Andreessen, Laurene Powell Jobs, Michael Moritz of, Reid Hoffman, Flannery, who've, Catherine Moy, Moy, Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Musk, Chap Ambrose, Ambrose, Azmi Haroun Organizations: Service, KQED, The New York Times, Michael Moritz of Sequoia Capital, Flannery Associates, Travis Air Force Base, Solano County Google, Boring Company, SpaceX, Washington Post Locations: Silicon, San Francisco, California, Solano County, Bay, Fairfield, Solano Silicon, Austin , Texas, Bastrop Country

☆ Cerebral Valley, the AI conference that spawned a $1.3 billion deal, is coming back to San Francisco this year
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-19 | by ( Alistair Barr | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Cerebral Valley, an AI conference run by Eric Newcomer's eponymous publication, just announced its second gathering of 2023. CVAI2 (Cerebral Valley AI Summit version 2.0) will take place on November 15 at the SFJAZZ Center in Hayes Valley, San Francisco. The neighborhood is nicknamed Cerebral Valley these days, due to the plethora of AI startups that have sprouted there. Ali Ghodsi, CEO of Databricks, and Naveen Rao, CEO of MosaicML, met for the first time at the initial Cerebral Valley AI Summit. That's the biggest generative AI startup deal so far, by my counting.

Persons: Vinod Khosla, Reid Hoffman, Adam D'Angelo, Eric Newcomer's, Mustafa Suleyman, Ali Ghodsi, Kanjun Qiu, Chris Lattner, May Habib, Naveen Rao, Jason Warner, Max Child, James Wilsterman, Amjad Masad, Clem Delangue, Emad, Daniela Amodei, Cristobal Valenzuela, Shane Orlick, MosaicML, it's Organizations: SFJAZZ, Service, Industry Locations: Hayes Valley, San Francisco, Wall, Silicon, Jasper

☆ LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman thinks pausing AI development is 'foolish' and 'anti-humanist'
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-14 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Reid Hoffman dismissed efforts to pause AI development in an interview at CogX Festival. Hoffman compared the development of AI to cars which also posed many risks and dangers at first. Hoffman pointed to other powerful technologies built in the past as an example of why the letter didn't have a logical basis. AdvertisementAdvertisement"When we built the car, we didn't know about safety belts, we didn't know about window washers, we didn't know about the crumple zone," Hoffman told the audience. Experts are divided on their opinions about the rapid development of AI.

Persons: Reid Hoffman, Elon, Hoffman, Elon Musk, Steve Wozniak, Pinterest, Evan Sharp, Emad Mostaque, we'd, Eliezer Yudkowsky Organizations: CogX, Service, Apple, Greylock Partners Locations: Wall, Silicon, London, OpenAI

☆ Silicon Valley billionaires want to build a new city in rural California, but locals are skeptical of the project: 'Their secrecy has caused a lot of problems'
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-05 | by ( Janie Har | Associated Press | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Silicon Valley billionaires revealed plans to build a new city after buying $800 million in land. The land was quietly purchased in Solano County, a rural area near San Francisco and Sacramento. Most of the land purchased is in the southeastern portion of the county, with parcels stretching from Fairfield to Rio Vista. Billionaires want to build a new city in rural California, but they're encountering wavering support from locals and lawmakers. Solano County homes are among the most affordable in the San Francisco Bay Area, with a median sales price of $600,000 last month.

Persons: Jan Sramek, Goldman Sachs, Flannery, Laurene Powell Jobs, Reid Hoffman, Marc Andreessen, Marc Andreeseen, Lauren Powell Jobs, Michael Moritz, Paul Chinn, Countess, Michael Kovac, Sramek, Mike Thompson, Terry Chea, Princess Washington, Thompson, they're, he's, John Garamendi, Hoffman, Andreessen, Ron Kott, Kott Organizations: Service, FRANCISCO, Flannery Associates, Silicon, LinkedIn, New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Getty, Fair, Solano, US Air Force, FBI, of Treasury, AP, San Francisco Bay Area, Travis Air Force Base, US Locations: Solano County, San Francisco, Sacramento, Wall, Silicon, Northern California, Solano, Silicon Valley, California, Fairfield, Rio Vista, U.S, United Kingdom, Ireland, walkable, Terry Chea California, California's, San Francisco Bay, Princess, Suisun City, Travis

☆ A mayor told the investors who want to build a new city in her backyard to 'take their billions of dollars and go back down to Silicon Valley'
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-02 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Moy told Bloomberg she would "do everything we can to stop" Flannery Associates' plans. Get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in business, from Wall Street to Silicon Valley — delivered daily. Moy told Bloomberg that "this is no way to go about any kind of development," adding: "We're going to do everything we can to stop this." The Silicon Valley elites have purchased about 52,000 acres of land around Travis Air Force Base since 2018, leaving "no part that isn't touched by Flannery," Moy told ABC 7 News. Speaking to CNBC about the Flannery plan, Moy said the Air Force base "can't function" with a settlement encroaching on it.

Persons: Catherine Moy, Moy, Flannery, John Garamendi, Solano County's, Marc Andreessen, Reid Hoffman, Laurene Powell Jobs, Steve Jobs Organizations: Solano, Bloomberg, Service, Daily, Flannery Associates, New York Times, Travis Air Force Base, ABC, CNBC, Air Force Locations: Fairfield, Wall, Silicon, California, Solano County, San Francisco

☆ A company that counts billionaires Marc Andreessen and Laurene Powell Jobs as investors says it's bought 50,000 acres of land to build a new 'walkable' city in northern California. Here's everything w
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-01 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

California Forever says it wants to build a "walkable" city with new jobs, surrounded by an agricultural greenbelt. The company, Flannery Associates, has been quiet until now, but its parent company California Forever just launched a new website detailing its master plan. Solano County sits between Sacramento, San Francisco, and Napa Valley, and has a population of around 450,000 across just over 900 square miles. Sramek founded California Forever in 2017 and recently bought a family home there. "Now that we're no longer limited by confidentiality, we are eager to begin a conversation about the future of Solano County," it says.

Persons: Goldman Sachs, Marc Andreessen, Laurene Powell Jobs, Flannery, Jan Sramek, he'd, Jan, Sramek, it's, Who's, Chris Dixon, John Doerr, Nat Friedman, Daniel Gross, Reid Hoffman, Michael Moritz, Andreessen Horowitz, Patrick, John Collison Organizations: Goldman, Service, Flannery Associates, California Forever, Travis Air Force Base, California Forever's, California Delta, California Locations: San Francisco, California, Wall, Silicon, Solano County, Sacramento, Napa Valley, Solano, Fairfield, Rio Vista, walkable

☆ Venture Capitalist Reid Hoffman to Scale Back Investment Role at Greylock
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-30 | by ( Berber Jin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com. https://www.wsj.com/business/venture-capitalist-reid-hoffman-to-scale-back-investment-role-at-greylock-9590a19a

Persons: Dow Jones, reid, hoffman

☆ Mysterious new California city backed by some of the biggest names in Silicon Valley, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-28 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

An aerial view of the city of San Francisco skyline and the Golden Gate Bridge in California, October 28, 2021. Jan Sramek, a former Goldman Sachs trader, has been quietly working to build an urban utopia in California nestled near San Francisco and Silicon Valley. But just a few years after the mysterious project got underway, it is facing increasing scrutiny from local officials and residents. Local residents were unnerved by the company as it bought up more and more land, according to the report. Read more at The New York Times.

Persons: Jan Sramek, Goldman Sachs, Sramek, Flannery, Reid Hoffman, Marc Andreessen, Andreessen Horowitz, Michael Moritz, Read Organizations: The New York Times, Flannery Associates, Bloomberg, LinkedIn, Democratic, Times Locations: San Francisco, California, Silicon

☆ A mystery company backed by Silicon Valley billionaires has purchased tens of thousands of acres of land for more than $800 million to build a new city near San Francisco
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-26 | by ( Lloyd Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A company called Flannery Associates has been purchasing land in a county near San Francisco. The company, Flannery Associates, has spent $800 million to purchase thousands of acres of farmland in Solano County, which sits northeast of San Francisco, court documents obtained by Insider show. But the spending price has since soared, with Flannery spending up to $15,000 per acre, lawyers for Flannery Associates said in court documents. Attorneys for Flannery Associates and the landowners did not respond to a request for comment outside of working hours. AdvertisementAdvertisementMusk recently purchased 3,500 acres of land outside of Austin, Texas, to build a town he intends to call "Snailbrook."

Persons: Flannery, Marc Andreessen, Laurene Powell Jobs, Catherine Moy, Jan Sramek, Goldman Sachs, Powell Jobs, Michael Moritz of, Reid Hoffman, Moritz, Y, We're, Bill Gates, Elon Musk Organizations: Service, Silicon, The New York Times, Flannery Associates, Street Journal, Travis Air Force Base, Air Force Base Google, ABC, Times, Michael Moritz of Sequoia Capital, LinkedIn, Solano County Google, The Times, Tech Locations: San Francisco, Wall, Silicon, California, Solano County, Fairfield, Real, Austin , Texas, Colorado

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