Folks, I almost spilled my coffee reading this one. So, it turns out that the “Gravel Teens” – you know, those two young guys, Henry Williams and David Oks, who took over former Alaska senator Mike Gravel’s social media accounts and ran a fake presidential campaign back in 2019 – have joined the dark side. They’re now working for OpenAI, a Silicon Valley behemoth with a valuation of over $850 billion, and they’re going to be helping the company navigate the wild world of AI. I mean, who wouldn’t want to hire a couple of young, smart, and feisty progressives to help them shape the future of humanity, right?
I have to admit, I’m a bit surprised by this move. I mean, these guys used to be all about progressive politics and sticking it to the man, and now they’re working for a company that’s all about, well, being the man. But hey, I guess that’s just the way the cookie crumbles sometimes. As Dean W. Ball, the head of OpenAI’s Strategic Futures team, said, “I hire smart people, that’s what it comes down to. I hire the right people for the job.” And I guess Williams and Oks are the right people for the job, even if they don’t exactly fit the typical mold of OpenAI employees.
It’s interesting to see how Williams and Oks have evolved over the years. They used to be all about creating content that skewered centrist Democrats and highlighted progressive causes, but now they’re working for a company that’s all about advancing AI technology, no matter the cost. I mean, OpenAI’s billionaire co-founder, Sam Altman, has predicted that AI technology will mean that certain types of jobs, like customer service, will be “totally, totally gone.” But hey, I guess that’s just progress, right?
As I read through this article, I couldn’t help but think about the irony of it all. I mean, these two young progressives who used to be all about challenging the status quo are now working for a company that’s all about shaping the future of humanity. It’s a bit like they’ve gone from being the rebels to being the establishment, and that’s a pretty interesting transition to watch.
But hey, who am I to judge? Maybe Williams and Oks are just trying to make a difference from the inside, and maybe they’ll be able to use their positions at OpenAI to shape the company’s values and mission. After all, as Ball said, “I don’t think that our current political map, our current political dividing lines in partisan American politics bolt on very well to AI at all.” Maybe Williams and Oks are just trying to create a new kind of politics, one that transcends traditional partisan lines and focuses on the bigger picture.
As I finish up this article, I have to say that I’m still a bit perplexed by the whole thing. I mean, it’s not every day that you see two young progressives join a Silicon Valley behemoth, and it’s definitely not every day that you see them become evangelists for the power of AI. But hey, I guess that’s just the way the world works sometimes, and who knows, maybe Williams and Oks will be the ones to shape the future of humanity after all. And if they do, I’ll be here, sipping my coffee and shaking my head in wonder.
Armchair patriot. Believes in the free market, cold beer, and that there’s always a guy named George behind every CNN segment.
Former remote-throwing champion turned #1 couch commentator on liberal panic in the media. Born in Texas (or so his mug says), he earned a degree in Fake Newsology & Beer Philosophy from YouTube University.
