Reid Hoffman doesn’t do much in half measures. He cofounded LinkedIn, of course, and helped bankroll companies including Meta and Airbnb in their startup days. He has also fashioned himself, via books, podcasts, and other public appearances, as something of a public intellectual—a pro-capitalist philosopher who still insists that tech can be a force for good.
Most recently, Hoffman has emerged as one of Silicon Valley’s most prominent defenders of artificial intelligence. His newest book, 2025’s Superagency, makes the case that AI won’t diminish human capacity but will instead amplify it. In our conversation for this week’s episode of The Big Interview, Hoffman readily riffed on AI’s utility for pretty much everything, whether you’re looking for a research assistant or a second opinion on your blood work. Hoffman even relied on AI to make one of the most unconventional—and perhaps uncomfortable, depending on your view of AI-generated creativity—Christmas gifts I’ve heard of lately. (And no, he didn’t get me one.)
Whatever you think of Hoffman’s utopian views on AI, credit where due: He’s also a very outspoken critic of President Trump—a rare trait in a tech world that’s grown increasingly quiet, or cozy, when it comes to the cruelties of the US administration. Hoffman’s overt political views haven’t been without consequence: Trump has twice threatened to launch investigations into him, most recently calling on Attorney General Pam Bondi to dig into Hoffman’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein. (In 2019, Hoffman apologized for his mid-2010s relationship with Epstein, which he says related solely to fundraising for MIT. He has subsequently called for the government to release the Epstein files in full.)
Despite those threats, Hoffman isn’t pulling punches: When we sat down to tape this episode in mid-December, he readily called out the administration for degrading American government, criticized his peers for keeping their heads down, and urged Silicon Valley to stop pretending that neutrality is a virtue. If only more billionaires were saying it.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
KATIE DRUMMOND: Reid Hoffman, welcome to The Big Interview. So glad to have you here.
REID HOFFMAN: I’m glad to be here.
We like to start these conversations with some very fast questions. Little warm-up. Are you ready?
Great!
Voice memo or text message?
Text message.
Cooperative games or competitive games?
Cooperative games.
The biggest difference between you and Elon Musk?
Sanity.
What’s the hardest lesson you’ve ever had to learn?
Oh gosh, there’s a whole lot. Probably when to give up.
Who do you wish would run for president in 2028?
Sanity.
Sanity for president.
Yes, exactly. You know, it’s funny, I probably can’t give a good answer to that question. I mean, the people I would want to run for president probably won’t.
Oh, that’s too bad.
Yes.
You can’t say their names?
Since I’ve tried to persuade them to do so, I think it’s probably impolite.
I’m fascinated. Next time we talk, I’m going to force you to tell me. What is your one, personal, killer use case for AI?
Well, I just generated a holiday Christmas album as my Christmas gift for all my friends.
I assume they all know that it’s AI generated music?
Yes. And it’s on records. We put it on records.
So it’s from your heart into the AI …
Yes.
… to their Christmas tree.
I’ve always had this desire to have Christmas music that has irony as well as affection for the holiday. So, there’s a song on ugly sweaters and, you know, all of this kinda stuff. As opposed to the “holly, jolly Christmas,” you know, something that actually has some humor. Almost like what “Weird Al” Yankovic would do if he was doing a Christmas album.
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