Silicon Valley backers want Harris to push abortion rights, pro-tech policies

Silicon Valley backers want Harris to push abortion rights, pro-tech policies SAN FRANCISCO − Venture capitalists pledging support for Kamala Harris’ White House campaign listed priorities in a survey released on Wednesday that include women’s reproductive rights, climate change and a friendlier stance toward startups. Of about 800 venture capitalists who signed an open letter of support, 225 chose to detail their reasons for endorsing the Democratic candidate and the policies they favor in a survey being reported first by Reuters. These are actually business issues,” said Leslie Feinzaig, CEO of Graham & Walker, who started the pledge. More: Harris campaign launches TV ads around Trump’s Mar-a-lago home tying him to Project 2025 Warm to Harris, pining for Obama Investors and executives said they viewed Vice President Harris, a Californian with ties to Silicon Valley, as a tech-savvy candidate open to engaging with industry. The open letter, called “VCs for Kamala” and disclosed in July, includes such venture capitalists as LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman and Vinod Khosla from Khosla Ventures. Although no one was asked to provide party affiliation, among those who self-disclosed, 70% were Democrats and 30% were Republicans or independents, the poll organizers said. More: Georgia is on Harris’ mind: VP looks to win over voters in first post-convention stop Some 97% wanted leaders who are “knowledgeable about technologies like AI and crypto to build effective regulations,” and nearly 92% believed the U.S. government needs to hire more technology talent, the survey results showed. Regarding AI, “We need the smartest people in government who know what to do on the military and civilian side, who know what’s coming,” said Eric Ries, an entrepreneur and author of “The Lean Startup.” The U.S. has lagged Europe in passing comprehensive AI legislation, though President Joe Biden issued an executive order last year requiring AI developers to report safety tests when there are security or health risks. More: Trump staff in altercation with Arlington Cemetery official Aaron Levie, CEO of cloud-computing company Box BOX.N, said rules for now should focus on applications of technology more than underlying AI models that have yet to mature. “Regulation is going to set an important trajectory for this industry and our leadership in AI in the long run,” said Levie. Some 94% of poll respondents said the U.S. needed to make more high-skilled, H-1B visas available, a staple for tech companies that draw talent from abroad. Silicon Valley also wants an easier path for startups to go public or sell to incumbents, the survey results and interviews showed. Former President Donald Trump, Harris’ Republican rival in the Nov. 5 election, won over Tesla CEO Elon Musk and prominent venture capitalists, including Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz. Vance, was a venture capitalist who co-founded a tech donor network aiming to push America to the right, Reuters reported. Trump has vowed to promote technology rooted in free speech and undo Biden’s AI executive order, which critics including Horowitz say is too prescriptive on technical details. More: Trump pledges national Bitcoin stockpile, to make US ‘crypto capital of the planet’ Democratic backers, meanwhile, have touted Biden’s record and Harris’ work securing voluntary corporate commitments on AI. She said as president she would position the U.S. as the world’s AI leader and help founders access capital − rare mentions for a political campaign, said Kieran Snyder, a startup CEO who helped lead the “VCs for Kamala” poll. More: Trump launches new $99 NFT ‘digital trading cards’ showing him dancing, wearing superhero suit A Harris fundraiser in San Francisco this month raised more than $12 million, her campaign said. In the survey, 98% of respondents said a few billionaire voices could not accurately reflect their views. For one, Biden’s Federal Trade Commission, chaired by Lina Khan, has sued Amazon, Microsoft and others over alleged monopoly power. Hoffman and media veteran Barry Diller have said they hope Harris will replace Khan, but neither answered requests for comment on their economic priorities for the next administration. An FTC spokesperson, addressing their remarks previously, said Khan has protected consumers and entrepreneurs from corporate abuse. Chris Larsen, founder of blockchain payments company Ripple Labs, said he wanted Harris to quell what he called the government’s “anti-business stand.” He pointed to officials like Gary Gensler, the Biden-nominated chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission that has sued cryptocurrency companies. – This Summarize was created by Neural News AI (V1). Source: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/08/28/tech-industry-kamala-harris/74987452007/