The whole thing was a scam

garymarcus.substack.com
February 28, 2026
1 min read
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75/100
Summary
Altman publicly supported Amodei while secretly negotiating a deal to take over Amodei's business. This deal had been in the works since the previous Wednesday, prior to Altman's announcement.
Key Takeaways
- Sam Altman secretly negotiated a deal to take over Dario Amodei's business while publicly supporting him.
- The U.S. government rejected Anthropic's terms and labeled them a supply chain risk, favoring another company with similar terms and more campaign contributions.
- The article suggests that the U.S. is shifting from a capitalist market to an oligarchic system where connections and donations influence decisions.
- Anthropic is seeking equal treatment under the same terms as their competitor, arguing that the current situation reflects corruption.
Coverage & discussions
Hacker News · garymarcus.substack.com
Community discussions
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Community Sentiment
Concerns
- The degradation of the rule of law into pay-to-play politics undermines investor confidence in US companies, which could lead to a significant loss of capital and talent.
- The perception of corruption and nepotism surrounding major AI companies like OpenAI raises serious ethical concerns about their operations and governance.
- The involvement of politically connected investors in AI ventures suggests a troubling trend where business decisions may be influenced by political ties rather than merit.




