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① an unusual public war of words is brewing in silicon valley, with some tech giants launching unprecedented attacks on former friends and colleagues on the eve of the presidential election; ② such scenes of infighting are rare in previous us presidential elections because the technology industry has always leaned left (supporting the democratic party).

cailianshe news, september 2 (editor: xiaoxiang)musk, the world's richest man who is now firmly in trump's camp, openly criticized technology investor and democrat vinod khosla as "insane" on his x platform last week because the latter hates former president trump.

at the same time, green technology investors who once admired and worshipped musk now view him as a traitor for siding with trump.

it's not just the mutual accusations between musk and investors, but accusations between silicon valley investors and entrepreneurs have also increased recently.

aaron levie, a harris supporter and ceo of cloud computing company box, believes that david sacks, a well-known silicon valley angel investor, must be on drugs for choosing to support trump.

an unusually public war of words is brewing in silicon valley, with some of the tech industry's biggest names launching unprecedented attacks on former friends and colleagues on the eve of the presidential election.

this kind of infighting scene is rare in previous us presidential elections because the technology industry has traditionally leaned left (supporting the democratic party).but in this election, a small group of influential tech executives, including musk, are opening their wallets to support trump and increasingly speaking out about switching party affiliations, sparking a sharp reaction from others who have historically remained silent about their political stances.

political differences are even souring business relationships and testing relations between former "old friends."

very unusual

“there’s a lot of tension in silicon valley right now because you have two opposing camps doing business together,” said sam singer, a public relations expert who has helped democratic politicians run their campaigns. “it’s an unusual situation.”

some democratic supporters were buoyed by the prospect of kamala harris replacing joe biden as the democratic presidential nominee this summer, just weeks after the vice president attended a fundraiser in san francisco co-hosted by linkedin co-founder reid hoffman that raised more than $13 million.harris' tech industry supporters said her speech at the democratic national convention brought them unexpected benefits.

harris spoke about providing opportunities and funding not just for small business owners but also for founders and entrepreneurs. she also spoke about the importance of innovation and the need to lead in areas such as artificial intelligence. her supporters interpreted this as meaning she would support policies that are friendly to the tech industry.

however, industry executives who support trump were more skeptical on social media, with some trying to play up independent presidential candidate robert kennedy jr.'s current endorsement of trump.

sachs tweeted a photo of robert kennedy jr. shaking hands with trump and wrote, "dream team."

trump's tech supporters worry harris will raise taxes on the wealthy and corporations and impose regulatory bottlenecks on emerging industries such as cryptocurrencies. they also say trump will end the enhanced scrutiny of mergers and acquisitions under president biden.

harmeet dhillon, a lawyer who represented trump and a republican national committeewoman in california, said: "we're seeing tensions among silicon valley billionaires. this is the first time in my memory that we've seen this in an election cycle."

best friends turn against each other

such political divisions have even affected friendships between some silicon valley executives and investors.

“i’m curious to see how i’ll feel when i find out more of my friends or colleagues have joined the trump camp,” climate technology investor josh felser wrote in an august linkedin post. “the relationship between us may be forever changed, and i suspect history will not be kind to them.”

some female tech workers have formed organizations such as tech4kamala, vcs for kamala and founders for kamala to mobilize support for harris. edda collins coleman, co-founder of tech4kamala, said, “we are witnessing unprecedented polarization.”

similar tensions have actually been going on for a long time.in mid-august, ben horowitz, co-founder of venture capital firm andreessen horowitz, lashed out at former sequoia capital chairman michael moritz.

horowitz, a former democratic donor turned trump supporter, accused moritz, who has long been in the democratic camp, of directing an article questioning why he and his wife had changed their positions.

"moritz is now having his rumor 'newspaper' fabricate articles attacking his business rival, me," horowitz wrote on x. "and, he's also attacking my wife."

the article, commissioned by moritz, details the horowitz couple's political donations and calls their transition from democrats to republicans a mystery.

linkedin co-founder hoffman and silicon valley godfather peter thiel, who once worked together at paypal, are now estranged. hoffman said at a conference last week that the two no longer talk because of thiel's political views.

apparently, as tensions within silicon valley circles grow over political stances, some tech executives are now hoping to end all the public bickering.mark pincus, co-founder of video game company zynga, said he will not support either candidate in this election.

"people are convinced that their side is right, so they make moral judgments on the other side. but in fact, they are all deeply lost," he wrote on linkedin.