Reporting on tech with Kelsey Piper

Complex Systems with Patrick McKenzie (patio11)

Patrick McKenzie (patio11) is joined by Kelsey Piper, a journalist for Vox’s Future Perfect. Kelsey recently reported on equity irregularities at OpenAI in May of 2024, leading to an improvement of their policies in this area. We discuss the social function of equity in the technology industry, why the tech industry and reporters have had a frosty relationship the last several years, and more.

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Full transcript available here: https://www.complexsystemspodcast.com/episodes/reporting-tech-kelsey-piper/

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Sponsor: This podcast is sponsored by Check, the leading payroll infrastructure provider and pioneer of embedded payroll. Check makes it easy for any SaaS platform to build a payroll business, and already powers 60+ popular platforms. Head to checkhq.com/complex and tell them patio11 sent you.

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Links:

• https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/351132/openai-vested-equity-nda-sam-altman-documents-employees
• https://www.vox.com/authors/kelsey-piper
• https://www.bitsaboutmoney.com/

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Twitter:

@patio11
@KelseyTuoc

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Timestamps:
(00:00) Intro

(00:28) Kelsey Piper's journey into tech journalism

(01:34) Early reporting

(03:16) How Kelsey covers OpenAI

(05:27) Understanding equity in the tech industry

(11:29) Tender offers and employee equity

(20:00) Dangerous Professional: employee edition

(28:46) The frosty relationship between tech and media

(35:44) Editorial policies and tech reporting

(37:28) Media relations in the modern tech industry

(38:35) Historical media practices and PR strategies

(40:48) Challenges in modern journalism

(44:48) VaccinateCA

(56:12) Reflections on Effective Altruism and ethics

(01:03:52) The role of Twitter in modern coordination

(01:05:40) Final thoughts

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Complex Systems is part of the Turpentine podcast network.