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Silicon Valley was supposed to change the world. Turns out, it wasn't kidding.

For decades, the tech industry's biggest personalities sold us a vision of innovation, openness, and progress. But somewhere along the way, the people building our digital future began accumulating something even more consequential than wealth: political power.

In this episode of FUTUREPROOF., Jeremy Goldman sits down with investigative journalist Jacob Silverman, author of bestseller GILDED RAGE: Elon Musk and the Radicalization of Silicon Valley (now out in paperback!) to explore how an industry once associated with technological optimism became increasingly entangled with ideology, political influence, and the ambitions of its billionaire founders.

Elon Musk is the obvious protagonist. But is he really the exception, or simply the most visible example of a much bigger transformation?

Jeremy and Jacob explore:

• How Silicon Valley's political identity evolved, and why the shift matters far beyond the technology industry.
• Whether Elon Musk is driving a new era of tech power or merely revealing forces that were already there.
• How AI, social platforms, and concentrated wealth are changing the relationship between technology companies and governments.
• Why the mythology of the genius founder makes society unusually willing to trust billionaires outside their areas of expertise.
• Whether the incentives behind social media and Silicon Valley culture reward increasingly extreme personalities.
• What happens when the companies shaping public discourse also become influential political players.

The bigger question isn't whether technology companies should have political opinions. It's what happens when the people who own our digital infrastructure begin exercising influence that extends far beyond their products.

Silicon Valley promised to change the world. But who gets to decide what that world looks like?