One of the hallmarks of Silicon Valley is its commitment to philosophy. Beyond sales measured in clicks, its figureheads have always had lofty ambitions: to change life (Steve Jobs), the world (Mark Zuckerberg) and even death (transhumanists).

The trend of the moment is techno-optimism. After bowing under the weight of revelations about their commercialism and the misinformation circulating on platforms, the “kings” of tech are striking back, happy to be riding the wave of artificial intelligence. “It is time, once again, to raise the technology flag,” proclaimed investor Marc Andreessen. “It is time to be Techno-Optimists.”

Andreessen, 52, co-founded Netscape, the forerunner of internet browsers, in 1994, before selling it to AOL in 2003. His investments, always competitive (Facebook, Airbnb, etc.), have made him a prominent billionaire. His libertarian stances have earned him the label of “chief ideologist of the Silicon Valley elite,” according to the New York Times. For him – as for his portfolio, estimated at $1.8 billion – technology is “the only source of perpetual growth.” Thanks to machines, “our descendants will live in the stars,” he promised.

Andreessen criticized those spreading doom and resentment in the era of AI. “We are told that technology takes our jobs, reduces our wages, increases inequality, threatens our health, ruins the environment, degrades our society, corrupts our children, impairs our humanity, threatens our future, and is ever on the verge of ruining everything,” he stated in a manifesto (“The Techno-Optimist Manifesto”), published on October 16, 2023. According to him, this “mass demoralization campaign” goes by various names: “sustainability,” “sustainable development goals,” “precautionary principle” and “degrowth.” In contrast, the investor praises the supermen of technology. Thanks to them, man is “not still living in mud huts,” waiting every day “for nature to kill us.”