‘AI has been marketed horribly,’ LinkedIn co-founder says

LinkedIn co-founder and Democratic megadonor Reid Hoffman admitted on Wednesday that artificial intelligence has been mismarketed to Americans, even as he sees a narrow lane for a tech optimist to win them back in 2028.

“AI has been marketed horribly to the American people,” Hoffman said during POLITICO’s Decoded Summit in Washington.

Hoffman said that if a candidate helps Americans understand how AI could economically benefit them amid rising gas and food prices, then “there’s a lane for presidential candidates to be more AI positive.” He added that a different approach is needed from the current messaging he sees around data centers.

But Hoffman also said that AI and tech optimism are not necessary to earn his personal support in 2028.

“How I operate politically is I don’t actually in fact say ‘Oh, I’m only supporting you if you support my pet cause,’” he said. He added: “Let’s support rule of law. Let’s not have blatant lies around election denialism.”

During the 2024 cycle, Hoffman donated millions of dollars to former Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign. He and President Donald Trump have had a long-running feud, stemming from the Democratic megadonor’s past donations to Trump’s political opponents and his role in funding writer E. Jean Carroll’s lawsuits against the president.