Meta’s AI Workers Are Revolting, Peter Thiel’s Secret Society, and SBF’s Plea to Trump
Meta’s AI Workers Are Revolting, Peter Thiel’s Secret Society, and SBF’s Plea to Trump
Meta 的 AI 员工正在反抗、彼得·蒂尔的秘密社团，以及 SBF 向特朗普的求情
This week on Uncanny Valley, our hosts discuss the meltdown that has been recently unfolding at Meta and what it says about the company’s relentless ambitions in the AI race. They also dive into the leaked messages and names of an invite-only group cofounded by billionaire tech founder Peter Thiel, and how Sam Bankman-Fried is now actively seeking a pardon from the Trump administration. Plus, they share their impressions on SpaceX acquiring Cursor and the latest on the negotiations between Anthropic and the government. 在本周的《Uncanny Valley》节目中，主持人讨论了 Meta 近期发生的内部动荡，以及这反映出该公司在 AI 竞赛中何等执着。他们还深入探讨了亿万富翁科技创始人彼得·蒂尔（Peter Thiel）共同创立的一个受邀制社团所泄露的消息和成员名单，以及萨姆·班克曼-弗里德（Sam Bankman-Fried）目前如何积极寻求特朗普政府的赦免。此外，他们还分享了对 SpaceX 收购 Cursor 的看法，以及 Anthropic 与政府之间谈判的最新进展。
Brian Barrett: Hey, this is Brian. Before we start, two quick things. If you’ve been enjoying listening to the show, we would appreciate it if you took a second to rate it in your podcast app of choice. It really helps us reach more people. And second, if you have any questions related to tech, privacy, or politics that you would like me, Zoë, and Leah to take on, now is the time to submit them to [email protected]. It doesn’t matter how big or how small, we want to hear from you and get you answers. OK, on to the show. Brian Barrett：嘿，我是 Brian。在开始之前，有两件小事。如果你喜欢收听我们的节目，希望你能花点时间在你常用的播客应用中为我们评分，这真的能帮助我们触达更多听众。其次，如果你有任何关于科技、隐私或政治的问题希望我和 Zoë、Leah 来解答，现在就是提交到 [email protected] 的好时机。无论问题大小，我们都想听听你的想法并为你提供答案。好了，进入节目。
Zoë Schiffer: Welcome to WIRED’s Uncanny Valley. I’m Zoë Schiffer, director of business and industry. Zoë Schiffer：欢迎收听《连线》（WIRED）的《Uncanny Valley》。我是商业与行业总监 Zoë Schiffer。
Brian Barrett: I’m Brian Barrett, executive editor. Brian Barrett：我是执行编辑 Brian Barrett。
Zoë Schiffer: Today on the show, we’re talking about the dysfunction in Meta’s newly formed AI unit and why it’s been driving employee morale, which was already very, very low, even further into the ground. Zoë Schiffer：今天节目中，我们将讨论 Meta 新成立的 AI 部门内部的机能失调，以及为什么这导致员工士气——本来就已经非常非常低落——进一步跌入谷底。
Brian Barrett: We’ll also break down the recent online leak that shed light on Peter Thiel’s invite-only group, Dialog, more than 200 names of high-profile people in government, tech, academia, and beyond are listed in the documents as members and guests of this secretive society, not to mention a look at what they talk about behind closed doors. Brian Barrett：我们还将剖析最近的网络泄密事件，该事件揭开了彼得·蒂尔的受邀制社团“Dialog”的面纱。文件中列出了 200 多名来自政府、科技、学术界及其他领域的知名人士，他们是这个秘密社团的成员和嘉宾，更不用说我们还会看看他们在闭门会议中讨论了些什么。
Zoë Schiffer: And it’s a busy week for controversial figures, because we’ll also get into how the former cryptocurrency founder and now convicted felon Sam Bankman-Fried is not only trying to make his case to get a pardon from the Trump administration, but planning a potential comeback. Zoë Schiffer：本周对于争议人物来说非常忙碌，因为我们还将深入探讨前加密货币创始人、现已定罪的重罪犯萨姆·班克曼-弗里德不仅在试图游说特朗普政府获得赦免，还在策划潜在的东山再起。
Brian Barrett: And a bit later in the show, we’ll talk about SpaceX’s acquisition of Cursor and the latest on Anthropic’s efforts with the Trump administration to get their latest models back online. Brian Barrett：稍后在节目中，我们将讨论 SpaceX 对 Cursor 的收购，以及 Anthropic 为使其最新模型重新上线而与特朗普政府进行的最新努力。
Zoë Schiffer: Brian, I think we have to get started with the complete mess and mayhem that is going on inside Meta, because the company— Zoë Schiffer：Brian，我想我们必须从 Meta 内部正在发生的彻底混乱和骚乱开始说起，因为这家公司……
Brian Barrett: It’s bad. Brian Barrett：情况很糟糕。
Zoë Schiffer: It’s bad. It’s so bad. People are not happy. Just to set the scene, the company has been laser-focused on trying to catch up and maybe win the AI race. It has poured a ton of money into creating a new AI unit, Meta Superintelligence Labs, and they’ve invested a ton in AI infrastructure, they’ve released new models. That’s been a little bit bumpy. But more recently, the company has reshuffled its staff in favor of prioritizing AI. During the company’s most recent round of layoffs last month, about 7,000 people were transferred to work on teams focused on AI. One of these teams was Meta’s applied AI engineering unit, which basically supports the work of the people who are in Meta Superintelligence Labs, which is the super fancy AI lab. And perhaps it’s an understatement to say things have not gone smoothly at all. Zoë Schiffer：确实很糟糕。非常糟糕。大家都不开心。简单介绍一下背景：公司一直专注于追赶并试图赢得 AI 竞赛。它投入了巨额资金创建了一个新的 AI 部门——Meta 超级智能实验室（Meta Superintelligence Labs），并在 AI 基础设施上投入了大量资金，还发布了新模型。过程有些坎坷。但最近，公司为了优先发展 AI 而进行了人员重组。在上个月公司最近一轮裁员中，约 7,000 人被调往专注于 AI 的团队。其中一个团队是 Meta 的应用 AI 工程部门，它基本上是为 Meta 超级智能实验室（那个超级高大上的 AI 实验室）的人员提供支持。说事情进展得一点都不顺利，可能还是轻描淡写了。
Brian Barrett: Just to set the scene too: So, you work at Meta, about 8,000 employees were let go as part of that round, right? Brian Barrett：补充一下背景：你在 Meta 工作，那一轮裁员中有大约 8,000 名员工被解雇，对吧？
Zoë Schiffer: Yes, exactly. Ten percent of the company. Zoë Schiffer：是的，没错。占公司总人数的 10%。
Brian Barrett: And then another 7,000 scattered to various AI units, including this one Meta applied AI unit, which people hate. They have been—in dramatic fashion too. A source that we talked to called it “the Gulag.” Brian Barrett：然后又有 7,000 人被分散到各个 AI 部门，包括这个人们非常讨厌的 Meta 应用 AI 部门。他们甚至以一种戏剧性的方式表达了不满。我们采访的一位消息人士称其为“古拉格”（劳改营）。
Zoë Schiffer: They did say that. Zoë Schiffer：他们确实这么说了。
Brian Barrett: Which seems a bit much. But last week we learned during an employee-only meeting for the Meta applied AI unit someone interrupted the call to say that they were “being the company’s bitch.” The same person then asked people leading the call to write to a specific Meta AI executive and, “Tell him he’s a piece of shit.” We have both heard this recording, Zoë. Brian Barrett：这似乎有点夸张。但上周我们了解到，在 Meta 应用 AI 部门的一次员工内部会议中，有人打断了通话，说他们“成了公司的走狗”（being the company’s bitch）。同一个人随后要求主持会议的人写信给某位 Meta AI 高管，并“告诉他他是个混蛋”。我们都听过这段录音，Zoë。
Zoë Schiffer: Yes, we have, many times. Zoë Schiffer：是的，我们听过，很多次。
Brian Barrett: Yes. And as much as I enjoy the interruption, I even more enjoyed the deafening silence immediately after. Brian Barrett：没错。虽然我很喜欢这种打断，但我更喜欢随之而来的那种震耳欲聋的沉默。
Zoë Schiffer: Yeah, that was rough, and there’s two things to say about this. One is that one of the reasons that people are really upset is that the work they are being asked to do they perceive as being very menial. Meta basically took a bunch of engineers who, at least in their telling to us, were working on interesting, exciting projects, and said, “Hey, you now work in this other team, and your projects are basically solving problems on behalf of an AI. If an AI can’t do something, you help it do it.” You’re doing what essentially sounds like post-training to fine-tune a model and improve it for specific purposes. Employees said things like, “It’s not like this work is difficult; in fact, it is that the work is very not challenging. It’s chill, but suddenly I have no purpose in life. It feels like I’m just given these random tasks. I don’t have agency anymore.” Zoë Schiffer：是的，那确实很尴尬。关于这件事有两点要说。第一，人们感到非常不满的原因之一是，他们被要求做的工作在他们看来非常琐碎。Meta 基本上把一群工程师——至少在他们告诉我们的说法中，他们之前是在做有趣、令人兴奋的项目——调到了另一个团队，并说：“嘿，你们现在在这个团队工作，你们的项目基本上是代表 AI 解决问题。如果 AI 做不到某件事，你就帮它做。”你所做的本质上听起来像是为了微调模型并针对特定目的进行改进的后训练工作。员工们说：“这工作并不难；事实上，问题在于它非常缺乏挑战性。虽然很轻松，但我突然觉得人生失去了目标。感觉就像我只是被分配了一些随机的任务。我再也没有自主权了。”