iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by The Phoenix Project

Gil Durán @gilduran.com · 05/10/2026

“Democracy has been hailed as, like, the holy grail for the last couple hundred years, but democracies are inefficient,” said the crypto billionaire. “If you get a benevolent dictator, it’s actually extremely efficient." Hmm, where have I heard this before? www.nytimes.com/2026/10/01/b...

nytimes.com

Inside a Billionaire’s Paradise With Crypto’s Most Powerful Ex-Convict (Gift Article)

Changpeng Zhao, jailed in the United States for a financial crime and pardoned by President Trump, is now living a gilded life in the United Arab Emirates.

2401505406

The Phoenix Project @phoenixprojnow.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Historically, strong-mayor systems have been tied to corruption. One study found cities with distributed decision-making are 57% less likely to be corrupt. Props D, E and F are a power grab disguised as reform. It’s critical to read past the mailers and understand the impacts.

111

The Phoenix Project @phoenixprojnow.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

The measures compound the influence of pay-to-play in SF politics. Eg: OpenGov won a $5.9M contract after Lurie's staffer Ned Segal overruled objections over cost and technical flaws. OpenGov's founders have given to Lurie's causes, and Lurie’s family has invested in the company.

100

The Phoenix Project @phoenixprojnow.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Prop F would give the Mayor unilateral power to hire and fire most department heads, let appointing officials remove commissioners without cause, and allow the Mayor to reorganize departments and appoint deputy mayors who answer only to the Mayor.

100

The Phoenix Project @phoenixprojnow.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Prop E would let the City Administrator write contracting rules for all departments, send fewer contracts to the Board of Supervisors for review, and extend the term from 5 to 10 years. Less oversight opens the door for corruption.

100

The Phoenix Project @phoenixprojnow.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Prop D would make it much harder to get measures on the ballot. Putting on a measure would take 6 Supervisors instead of 4. Citizen initiatives would need 8% of voters (~40,000 signatures) instead of 2%. Well-funded campaigns could manage that. Grassroots efforts likely couldn’t.

100

The Phoenix Project @phoenixprojnow.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

The campaign has raised $11M from a handful of wealthy donors, including billionaires Michael Moritz and Chris Larsen. That's more than all other city measures on the November 2026 ballot combined.

100

The Phoenix Project @phoenixprojnow.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Glossy mailers from Mayor Lurie's "Clean Up City Hall" campaign are hitting SF mailboxes, urging Yes on Props D, E and F. They talk about corruption and red tape. Not one word explains how the measures would fix either. 🧵

111

Reposted by The Phoenix Project

Gazetteer SF @sf.gazetteer.co · 29/09/2026

Tonight, 300+ people will gather at Club Fugazi to hear from journalist @gilduran.com, whose bestselling book “The Nerd Reich” has everyone talking about Silicon Valley’s rightward lurch — and what might happen next. We chatted with Gil about the book, his readers’ top FAQ, and his next project.

sf.gazetteer.co

The rise (and rise) of the nerd reich

‘The Nerd Reich’ author Gil Durán connected the dots from Silicon Valley to the White House to the possible end of the world. He may take on Gavin Newsom next

04313

Reposted by The Phoenix Project

The American Prospect @prospect.org · 30/09/2026

We are crying out for an overhaul of our entire financial system. There are few ways to make that easier than by taking the Silicon Valley oligarch class down a peg or three. prospect.org?p=145569

SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell is shown projected onscreen in Times Square

2298

The Phoenix Project @phoenixprojnow.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Clearly then this comment providing cover to rising tech fascists is not in good faith🤷

100

The Phoenix Project @phoenixprojnow.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Hello, assuming this post is in good faith it might be helpful to know that we highlight powerful conservative forces in Bay Area elections. Traditionally this was a coalition of big business, real estate & the police. Now tech billionaires have joined in. Dede Wilsey is no exception

100

The Phoenix Project @phoenixprojnow.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Hi there, Julie is involved in her own activism locally and wears many hats including within her role at the Richmond Democratic Club. We appreciate her consistent activism and also what she does on her own time is separate from our organization. We do not have an explicit stance on this development

200

Reposted by The Phoenix Project

Jenny Cohn @jennycohn.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Finally, an article about Pax Silica: “Tech Bros and the Trump Administration Are Building an AI Empire—In the Philippines *** Pax Silica aims to lock up rare earths, and hand Silicon Valley the keys.” By @kierabutler.bsky.social 9/25/26 … 1/ www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

motherjones.com

Tech Bros and the Trump administration are building an AI empire—in the Philippines

Pax Silica aims to lock up rare earths, and hand Silicon Valley the keys.

511185

Reposted by The Phoenix Project

Gil Durán @gilduran.com · 24/09/2026

Oh look, folks, the billionaire-funded Network State project of Praxis gets another big story in the New York Times. Not sure how seriously to take this vaporware (story misses key details), but they sure do know how to get into the NYT. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/22/w...

nytimes.com

These Tech Utopians Want to Build a City for the Post-A.I. World (Gift Article)

After a sprawling world tour, Praxis, a New York-based, crypto-backed “digital nation,” has signed a deal to build a physical city in Uruguay.

1215456

The Phoenix Project @phoenixprojnow.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Read more at the Phoenix Review! www.phoenixprojectnow.com/phoenix-revi...

111

The Phoenix Project @phoenixprojnow.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Larsen backed Kamala Harris in 2024, but Ripple's PAC Fairshake has targeted progressive Democrats critical of crypto, and Ripple gave ~$5M to Trump's inaugural committee after Harris lost. Self-interest seems to be the throughline.

100

The Phoenix Project @phoenixprojnow.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Larsen fought hard against SF's "Overpaid CEO" tax initiative on the June ballot, and is now pouring $10M through himself and Ripple Labs into defeating Prop 40, California's billionaire wealth tax. He's one of the top 4 political spenders in the state this cycle, giving $96M.

100

The Phoenix Project @phoenixprojnow.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Larsen is a major backer of Mayor Lurie initiatives: $9M for SFPD surveillance tech, $5M for Tenderloin revitalization, and $2.5M toward charter measures expanding mayoral power. He played a similar role for former Mayor London Breed, funding her legal defense and ballot measures.

100

The Phoenix Project @phoenixprojnow.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Crypto billionaire Chris Larsen gave $500K to SF supervisor candidate Theo Ellington via a PAC he set up, the largest donation ever in a SF supervisorial race. Ellington now says the PAC "doesn't speak for" his campaign. 🧵

100

The Phoenix Project @phoenixprojnow.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Newer clubs like Westside Family Dems and Eastern Neighborhoods Dems show similar patterns, with deep ties to tech/real estate money and nearly identical voter guides cycle-to-cycle.

130

The Phoenix Project @phoenixprojnow.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Billionaire Ron Conway helped launch the "Robert F. Kennedy Democratic Club" in 2016 — later renamed United Democratic Club after backlash from the Kennedy family. The group endorsed Matt Mahan's MAGA-donor-funded governor bid, which only got 3.5% of the vote in the June primary.

121

The Phoenix Project @phoenixprojnow.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Case in point: Neighbors for a Better San Francisco — founded by GOP donor William Oberndorf — has given $1.7M to the Ed Lee Democratic Club alone. Its endorsements now mirror the political pressure organization’s picks nearly one-to-one.

120

The Phoenix Project @phoenixprojnow.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

This follows members of the network spending $1.8M to flip the SF Democratic County Central Committee from progressive to conservative in March 2024, a watershed moment for local politics.

121

The Phoenix Project @phoenixprojnow.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

San Francisco’s 27 Democratic clubs have historically been scrappy, dues-funded neighborhood groups. Now many have increasingly become front groups for a billionaire-backed "Astroturf Network" pushing SF politics rightward. 🧵

155

The Phoenix Project @phoenixprojnow.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Lurie’s policies have helped support SF rents jumping 12.2% over the last year, the highest in the country. He has consistently courted corporate donors, betting on the good graces of billionaire buddies Michael Moritz, Chris Larsen over pushing for progressive taxation.

100

The Phoenix Project @phoenixprojnow.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

However the wealth question is the real divide. Mamdani has backed a "pied-à-terre" tax on $5M+ homes to fund social services. Lurie oh the other hand helped sink SF's "Overpaid CEO Tax," siding with billionaires over an estimated $300M/year in city revenue.

101

The Phoenix Project @phoenixprojnow.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Lurie's record has looked like opposing rent control expansion, cutting affordable housing requirement for new development from 15% to 5%, and pushing a sobriety requirement for supportive housing, a reversal of the city’s long-established Housing First policy.

110

The Phoenix Project @phoenixprojnow.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Mamdani's record so far has included freezing rent for ~1M rent-controlled units, a crackdown on predatory landlords, expanded supportive housing, and forcing delivery apps to route tips directly to drivers.

100

The Phoenix Project @phoenixprojnow.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Mamdani ran on affordability, funded by small donors. Lurie ran on tough-on-crime, funded largely by his mother's Levi Strauss fortune. Different campaigns, with radically different bases of support.

100

The Phoenix Project @phoenixprojnow.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Two big-city mayors, two very different playbooks. Both NYC’s Zohran Mamdani and SF’s Daniel Lurie have high approval rates, and came in as political outsiders heavily relying on social media. But that’s where the similarities end.🧵

120

Reposted by The Phoenix Project

Sad Francisco @sadfrancisco.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Search “Sad Francisco” on all podcast apps. Episode title: Daniel Lurie’s Web with Jeremy Mack of @phoenixprojnow.bsky.social #podcast #oligarchs

131

The Phoenix Project @phoenixprojnow.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

In all, Tan's operations are long on outrage and short on substantive engagement with the issues facing California voters, appealing mainly to fellow tech elites uneasy about being asked to pay more.

111

The Phoenix Project @phoenixprojnow.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Tan also launched Garry's Studios, an AI video outfit whose first project attacked SF's Prop D — the overpaid CEO tax on June’s ballot. That measure ultimately failed anyway, largely because Mayor Daniel Lurie became the public face of opposition.

120

The Phoenix Project @phoenixprojnow.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

The article notes that Garry's List has published roughly 20 AI-written articles opposing California's proposed Billionaire Tax, a one-time 5% levy on the state’s wealthiest residents meant to fund healthcare, sponsored by the state's largest healthcare union.

110

The Phoenix Project @phoenixprojnow.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

His biggest project to-date is called Garry's List, a nonprofit he refers to as a "voter-education group." Its real focus: deregulation, more policing, and near-constant attacks on unions and progressives, using almost exclusively AI-generated content.

112

The Phoenix Project @phoenixprojnow.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Tan's political spending has grown fast: $76K against SF's "Overpaid CEO Tax," $10K to a supervisorial candidate, $40K to Matt Mahan's failed governor bid, plus a new federal PAC called the Little Tech PAC that's funneled money to Republican senators like Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz.

112

The Phoenix Project @phoenixprojnow.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Our latest piece traces Garry Tan's rise from Silicon Valley organizer to major political operator, part of what we refer to as an "Astroturf Network" of billionaire tech donors including William Oberndorf, Chris Larsen, and Michael Moritz. 🧵

122

The Phoenix Project @phoenixprojnow.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Flock is a Y Combinator company, class of 2017. Tan’s VC firm Initialized Capital was one of Flock’s first investors. This is SF’s astroturf politics in practice. (3/3)

051

The Phoenix Project @phoenixprojnow.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Abundance Network and GrowSF then helped raise another $230k with the support of crypto billionaire Chris Larsen ($100k) in a failed attempt to get Trevor Chandler elected as D9’s representative on the Board of Supervisors. (2/3)

141

The Phoenix Project @phoenixprojnow.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

San Francisco astroturf group Abundance Network and their allies including current Y Combinator President Garry Tan & former President Paul Graham spent $143k to get current Flock Safety employees Trevor Chandler & Lily Ho elected to the SF DCCC (1/3)

2127

The Phoenix Project @phoenixprojnow.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

He closes by arguing that SF and the Bay Area's public investments helped create billionaire fortunes in the first place. A one-time 5% ask isn't radical, it's responsible. He urges the party to stand with its constituents and workers, not major donors.

120

The Phoenix Project @phoenixprojnow.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Nguyen notes many conservative DCCC members had their own campaigns funded by billionaire Chris Larsen, and argues the timing of the bylaw change is hard to ignore given Larsen’s advocacy opposing Prop 40.

100

The Phoenix Project @phoenixprojnow.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

But SF's DCCC quietly changed its bylaws just after Prop 40 qualified, breaking a long-standing norm of following the state party on ballot measures. Then it voted 17-4 last night to oppose the billionaire tax.

100

The Phoenix Project @phoenixprojnow.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

The flashpoint: Prop 40 would put a one-time 5% tax on ~200 California billionaires, with revenue going to Medi-Cal, which is facing a massive shortfall from federal cuts. The state Democratic Party has backed it.

100