My theory is that after FTX money dried up, admins have decided to take advantage of LessWrong’s popularity in AI safety circles and run a discreet blackmail operation. It started with the post about the disgruntled ex-employees of the weird world-touring office company. That was the test and first warning shot: “Donate to us or we’ll make sure there’s popular LW posts that ruin your reputation.” There were a few AI celebrities who got the message and donated to Lightcone. Those with less cunning however failed to donate in a timely fashion. Thus we’re now seeing a string of posts lampooning their characters and attempting to cancel them.
I think there is a nonzero probability that this theory is true, in whole or in part, and thus believe my claims ought to receive greater attention and further investigation.
My theory is that after FTX money dried up, admins have decided to take advantage of LessWrong’s popularity in AI safety circles and run a discreet blackmail operation. It started with the post about the disgruntled ex-employees of the weird world-touring office company. That was the test and first warning shot: “Donate to us or we’ll make sure there’s popular LW posts that ruin your reputation.” There were a few AI celebrities who got the message and donated to Lightcone. Those with less cunning however failed to donate in a timely fashion. Thus we’re now seeing a string of posts lampooning their characters and attempting to cancel them.
I think there is a nonzero probability that this theory is true, in whole or in part, and thus believe my claims ought to receive greater attention and further investigation.
(Just to be clear, this is false. Lightcone staff had no involvement whatsoever in making this post.)
Yeah, that looks like a bizarre claim. I do not think there is any reason whatsoever to doubt yours or Ben’s integrity.