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Silicon Valley's Saudi Arabia Problem (nytimes.com)
An anonymous reader shares a report: Somewhere in the United States, someone is getting into an Uber en route to a WeWork co-working space. Their dog is with a walker whom they hired through the app Wag. They will eat a lunch delivered by DoorDash, while participating in several chat conversations on Slack. And, for all of it, they have an unlikely benefactor to thank: the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Long before the dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi vanished, the kingdom has sought influence in the West -- perhaps intended, in part, to make us forget what it is. A medieval theocracy that still beheads by sword, doubling as a modern nation with malls (including a planned mall offering indoor skiing), Saudi Arabia has been called "an ISIS that made it." Remarkably, the country has avoided pariah status in the United States thanks to our thirst for oil, Riyadh's carefully cultivated ties with Washington, its big arms purchases, and the two countries' shared interest in counterterrorism. But lately the Saudis have been growing their circle of American enablers, pouring billions into Silicon Valley technology companies.
While an earlier generation of Saudi leaders, like Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, invested billions of dollars in blue-chip companies in the United States, the kingdom's new crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, has shifted Saudi Arabia's investment attention from Wall Street to Silicon Valley. Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund has become one of Silicon Valley's biggest swinging checkbooks, working mostly through a $100 billion fund raised by SoftBank (a Japanese company), which has swashbuckled its way through the technology industry, often taking multibillion-dollar stakes in promising companies. The Public Investment Fund put $45 billion into SoftBank's first Vision Fund, and Bloomberg recently reported that the Saudi fund would invest another $45 billion into SoftBank's second Vision Fund. SoftBank, with the help of that Saudi money, is now said to be the largest shareholder in Uber. It has also put significant money into a long list of start-ups that includes Wag, DoorDash, WeWork, Plenty, Cruise, Katerra, Nvidia and Slack. As the world fills up car tanks with gas and climate change worsens, Saudi Arabia reaps enormous profits -- and some of that money shows up in the bank accounts of fast-growing companies that love to talk about "making the world a better place."
While an earlier generation of Saudi leaders, like Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, invested billions of dollars in blue-chip companies in the United States, the kingdom's new crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, has shifted Saudi Arabia's investment attention from Wall Street to Silicon Valley. Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund has become one of Silicon Valley's biggest swinging checkbooks, working mostly through a $100 billion fund raised by SoftBank (a Japanese company), which has swashbuckled its way through the technology industry, often taking multibillion-dollar stakes in promising companies. The Public Investment Fund put $45 billion into SoftBank's first Vision Fund, and Bloomberg recently reported that the Saudi fund would invest another $45 billion into SoftBank's second Vision Fund. SoftBank, with the help of that Saudi money, is now said to be the largest shareholder in Uber. It has also put significant money into a long list of start-ups that includes Wag, DoorDash, WeWork, Plenty, Cruise, Katerra, Nvidia and Slack. As the world fills up car tanks with gas and climate change worsens, Saudi Arabia reaps enormous profits -- and some of that money shows up in the bank accounts of fast-growing companies that love to talk about "making the world a better place."
You mean Israel? The true enemy of world peace.
If you've ever worked with Silicon Valley types you'd know most of them will sell their mom for a buck. Nobody gives a shit where their next round comes from as long as it does come.
The US gives the death penalty for murder and worse.
Saudi Arabia gives the death penalty (or tries to) for speaking out:
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/saudi-arabia-seeks-unprecedented-death-penalty-woman-activist-n902771
They also apply the death penalty for things that aren't even crimes in civilized countries, like sodomy, blashpemy and witchcraft:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment_in_Saudi_Arabia#Other_offences
Also, the US is a Democracy, not a theocracy.
There might be a slight difference between executing (different than murder) someone who was themselves a mass murderer after they've sat in prison for decades and have had several rounds of appeals as opposed to executing someone for homosexuality, being a women's rights activist, or allegedly practicing sorcery. If you're lucky you might even be crucified.
Also, not all U.S. states have a death penalty, and of those that do, many don't use the electric chair. Wikipedia indicates that some states allow convicted criminals to choose it if they so want, but that there aren't a lot of states actually using it. Most of it is by lethal injection, and I'd say that there are probably more humane ways than that to kill a person if you're going to do it. Nitrous oxide asphyxiation seems like a pretty painless way to me, and probably a hell of a lot less expensive.
Whataboutism is a propaganda technique first used by the Soviet Union, in its dealings with the Western world.[1] When Cold War criticisms were levelled at the Soviet Union, the response would be "What about..." followed by the naming of an event in the Western world.[2][3] It represents a case of tu quoque (appeal to hypocrisy),[4] a logical fallacy that attempts to discredit the opponent's position by asserting the opponent's failure to act consistently in accordance with that position, without directly refuting or disproving the opponent's initial argument.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whataboutism
Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
9/11 hijackers were from Saudi Arabia.
And 100% of the perpetrators of the OKC bombing were Americans. So were 100% of successful US President assassins. Are we supposed to hate all Serbians because 1 Serbian started WW1?
The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
9/11 hijackers were from Saudi Arabia.
The hijackers were people that opposed the Saudi ruling family, and especially opposed America's alliance with KSA, and the presence of infidel American troops in the Arabian Peninsula.
Jerked out the rag under Elon Musk? They bought 5% of Tesla at that point. They love Tesla and Elon. Apparently the feeling is mutual.
the beheaded had a trial too
Wasn't the case for Princess Mishaal bint Fahd
Pain is merely failure leaving the body
Also, the US is a Democracy, not a theocracy.
Yet. The U.S. is not yet a theocracy. However, based on their actions, Republicans, and their Evangelical Judases, are working very had to change that.
Why uncomfortable? From what I understand Musk welcomes them and considered selling Tesla to them. What makes you think he is "uncomfortable" with them? Seems like best buddies to me.