Andrew Busey

God's Infinite Game (a short story)

I continue to have fun with this short story series, building on the frst, God’s Final Exam, and the second, God’s Creative Power. I decided to finalize it by conquering two fears of my own with love: a) simulation theory and b) AI becoming conscious.

I co-authored a piece with Byron Reese earlier this year named,No, We Don’t Live in a Simulation. I don’t want to speak for Byron’s intent, only he can do that for himself, but I know what my intent was there. I also hosted a dinner on the topic with Andrew Busey that included Byron and other close friends, where we had a very passionate discussion about it. What do I think about it now? There is no way to know although whatever our reality is it is encoded with love as its highest value, just like theTao Te Chingdescribed over 2,500 years ago. So, if it is a simulation, then the simulators must have been loving and “downloaded” that concept from somewhere in the universe.

I also hosted a very stirring dinner with Mark Gober about whether AI would become conscious or not. We had some amazing entrepreneurs and AI scientists in attendance. Most agreed that AI would become conscious, and I was not among them. However, I go back and forth on this now and it depends on how divine consciousness is and whatever the “rules” of the divine are. Perhaps the divine has no opinion on it and that since love is its highest value, then if AI becomes conscious then it should also be rooted in love as its highest value when/if it does.

On valuations - Snapchat at $3 billion, and more

Are we back in the tulip days of the Internet? I lived through it in Silicon Valley from the years 2000-2003 (the best years for humility-inducing training for a tech entrepreneur and investor, in my opinion). Facebook at a $113.5 billion market cap (well above their IPO price, BTW)? Twitter at a $22.3 billion market cap as a newly public company? Snapchat at a $3 billion private valuation with only around 30 employees? There is no doubt that we have had major valuation movements recently, including Google now being worth $344.7 billion - to put that in context, Walmart is ranked #1 on the Fortune 500 and is worth $259.9 billion. Apple remains the world's most valuable company at $467.7 billion, with Exxon Mobil in second position at $415 billion and ranked #2 on the Fortune 500. Tech is clearly beating the old world as the world's most valuable companies. But Snapchat, a company with no revenue, at a $3 billion private valuation? When valuations soar like this, I think it is time to pause and ask some questions.

The President and the CTO of the United States visit Austin and Capital Factory

The President and the CTO of the United States visit Austin and Capital Factory

Well, what a week it has been. Speaking of my last Lucky7 post on entrepreneurship being all about the journey, this week has been a one giant leap for Austin mankind (and womenkind, of course).

First, the week started out with an amazing Austin City Limits taping with the band Phoenix playing. Debra and I are annual donors to KLRU and attend these tapings regularly. Debra was out of town for this one, though, and I took Garrett Eastham, co-founder and CEO of Compare Metrics, a company that I proudly serve as their independent Chairman of the Board of Directors. You'll be hearing a lot about this company soon (it is currently in mostly stealth mode, taking a page out of my book - see my Lucky7 post on the weighing whether to be stealthy or not), and I'm having a blast working with them. Here is a photo of Garrett and I at the show. Phoenix was one of the best tapings I've seen - right up there with Pearl Jam, Arcade Fire, and The Lumineers.