Reid Hoffman, the co-founder of LinkedIn, is in a difficult position — on the outs with President Trump, a new administration and his former friend Elon Musk.
Hoffman supported Kamala Harris for president in 2024, and had previously bankrolled a lawsuit against Trump by E. Jean Carroll, who accused Trump of sexual assault. And on January 20, when several tech billionaires, including his friend Mark Zuckerberg, stood on stage for Trump's inauguration, Hoffman wasn't invited. He told us that he assumed it's partly that he isn't a current CEO of a giant company, but the political difference with his fellow tech founders is hard to overlook.
We had a conversation with Hoffman about this awkward moment — and also his effort to look far beyond this moment, into the future of artificial intelligence. Hoffman, a longtime investor in AI, has co-authored a book called "Superagency" that takes an optimistic view of AI. At a moment when many Americans worry about what can go wrong with AI, Hoffman argues for what can go right.
Here are four highlights from our talk, which you can listen to at the link above.
He used AI as a sounding board and fact-checker.
Hoffman says he and his co-author Greg Beato did not ask a chatbot to write the book, but used a chatbot to vet the book — checking facts, or asking for additional research, readings and perspectives on artificial intelligence. (He said he also asked for help finding good books on AI, though he contends the technology is developing so quickly that "there aren't any good books.")
This illustrates Hoffman's case for how AI can be helpful — as a superpowered information sifter, which can help human beings track, locate, boil down and analyze the infinite amount of information available on the internet.
He has an explanation for his falling out with Elon Musk.
Hoffman insists he lost a friend over Musk's political pronouncements on X, his social media platform. "While I really highly regard Elon's amazing accomplishments in cars and rockets and all the rest," he has been "using Twitter" to spread "lies and slanders." Hoffman also alluded to their differences of opinion over OpenAI, a company in which both invested.
He is trying to keep his friendship with Mark Zuckerberg.
Zuckerberg critics accused him of bowing before Trump, or blowing with the wind, by abandoning professional fact-checking on Facebook in the U.S. and attending the inauguration. Hoffman defends his friend—as a man who is "trying to build a social infrastructure for the world," and "believes very deeply in the freedom of speech," but who should be "responsive" to governments as a responsible CEO.
Hoffman still said he believes in fact-checking, however. "Social networks should, in fact, you know, kind of take a certain social responsibility."
Hoffman tries to make the best of his fellow CEO's on stage with Trump.
"If I were to pick one industry that I would most want to be in dialogue with the president's office and with the American government, it's the tech industry."
Does he fear the new administration will seek retribution against him? "My hope is the focus of the administration will be on: How do we build as much strength into American society, American industry as we can [as opposed to] claims of retribution. I don't think it's that useful to speculate right now. We're in the administration. We'll, we will see what happens."
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