With Trump win, Silicon Valley's right flank takes on Washington

by Alex PIGMAN

One week into his second administration, Donald Trump has put technology at the forefront, featuring tech billionaires prominently at his inauguration and announcing major AI infrastructure deals from the White House.

Looking beyond household names like Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jeff Bezos, here are several lesser-known tech figures also wielding significant influence:

- David Sacks -

Sacks, Trump's newly appointed AI and Crypto Czar, is an investor and cryptocurrency advocate who stood beside the president Thursday as he signed an executive order to deregulate that scandal-scarred industry.

Like Musk, Sacks was born in South Africa and belongs to the "PayPal Mafia" -- early internet pioneers who became Silicon Valley power players.

He co-hosts the All-In podcast, popular among conservative tech leaders, and recently co-organized a Trump fundraiser that introduced the president to cryptocurrency.

Sacks is a vocal advocate for deregulation and has already seen the cancellation of an executive order from the administration of Trump's predecessor, Joe Biden, that set certain guardrails on AI technologies.

- Peter Thiel -

Thiel, who gave Sacks his start at PayPal and famously fired Musk as CEO of the company, has been a conservative force in Silicon Valley for three decades.

The German-born investor, who spent part of his youth in southern Africa, first showed his right-wing stance at Stanford University before becoming an early Facebook investor and mentor to Zuckerberg.

As a leading conservative intellectual in tech circles, Thiel has long advocated against what he sees as liberal overreach in higher education and government regulation.

He has influenced a generation of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs through his writings and investments.

While less directly involved in Trump's 2024 campaign than in 2016, Thiel's influence continues through his protege, Vice President JD Vance, whom he introduced to Trump.

It also comes through his investments in defense contractors Palantir and Anduril, which are expected to expand their Pentagon footprint.

A political animal, Thiel owns a stately mansion in the US capital Washington, where he threw an inauguration party on the eve of Trump's swearing-in.

The guest list included Meta's Zuckerberg, OpenAI's Sam Altman and Vance.

- Marc Andreessen -

Born and raised in the US Midwest, Andreessen rose to prominence as founder of computer services company Netscape in the 1990s and has become an intense advocate for Trump, even if his support came late.

Despite previously backing Democrats, Andreessen grew frustrated with the Biden administration's strict cryptocurrency regulations and has built an expansive lobbying war chest to reverse them.

During the transition, he regularly visited Mar-a-Lago and helped fill administration positions as what he called an "unpaid intern."

His venture capital firm, Andreessen Horowitz, has backed major tech companies including Twitter (now known as X), AirBnb and Coinbase, and he is one of longest serving members on Meta's board alongside Zuckerberg.

Andreessen, like his peers, is a committed "effective accelerationist" -- part of a Silicon Valley movement that believes any restrictions on technological development, whether from government regulation or social concerns, are fundamentally harmful to human progress.

- Palmer Luckey -

Palmer Luckey, while not directly involved in the White House, carries weight as a self-made tech billionaire who challenged Silicon Valley's liberal bent.

The home-schooled prodigy was just 21 when he sold his virtual reality company Oculus to Facebook for $2 billion in 2014.

His outspoken Trump support made him a misfit at Facebook, which he left in 2017 amid questions over his activities in support of the Republican.

His current venture, Anduril Industries, has emerged as a major player in military technology, developing AI-powered systems including autonomous surveillance towers and drone interceptors.

The company, with Thiel as a major backer, has rapidly expanded its defense contracts and its technology has been deployed in various military applications, from border security to battlefield operations in Ukraine.

© Agence France-Presse