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So this is it, Silicon Valley.
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There's Google just down here.
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Tesla, Apple's headquarters, Facebook.
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And over there in the distance you've got San Francisco.
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Airbnb, Uber, Twitter, all based over there.
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It's absolutely unbelievable.
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The tech gods here are selling us all a brighter future.
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We are one global community.
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With the technology in our pockets, we can reclaim our cities.
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We don't want to be part of the problem.
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We are and will continue to be part of the solution.
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But Silicon Valley's promise to build a better world
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relies on tearing up the world as it is.
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They call it disruption.
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My name is Jamie Bartlett.
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I'm a tech writer.
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I want to discover what the reality is
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behind Silicon Valley's utopian vision.
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Across the world, some communities are fighting back
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against Silicon Valley's disruption.
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But what are the consequences for the rest of us?
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If the world really does end,
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there's not going to be a lot of places to run.
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VOICEOVER: This former Facebook insider fears for the future.
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Within 30 years, half of humanity won't have a job.
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And it could get ugly. There could be a revolution.
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That's why I'm here.
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This is the story of the disruptors of Silicon Valley
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and whether their promise to build a better world
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could end up destroying everything.
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The tech gods are promising us a sunny utopia.
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But could the forces they're unleashing
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actually herald a much darker future?
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In the postapocalypse,
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the 5.56mm round will be the currency
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of the new America. I guarantee you.
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It's not at all what I expected.
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Up close, Silicon Valley looks so normal.
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Even a touch boring.
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What is it that makes this place
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such a force for change in all our lives?
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That's it.
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Wow.
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So this place here...
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..is Rainbow Mansion.
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It's an intentional community
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of people working to optimise the galaxy.
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So it seems like a pretty good place to start.
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The mansion is home to a bunch of global nomads
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who've come to Silicon Valley to pursue their dreams.
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- Jeremy?
- Hey.
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- I'm Jamie.
- Welcome to Rainbow.
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VOICEOVER: Jeremy Swerdlow is a virtual reality hardware designer
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and my guide.
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So could you show me a little bit around?
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Yeah. There are people working on stuff all over this house.
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Technology has been democratised in a way that it never has been before.
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People just need a laptop,
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you can start an entire company just on a laptop.
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Let me take you into the garage.
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- Or the lab.
- The lab?
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You can't have a garage in Silicon Valley,
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it's got to be a lab.
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So the rule here is if your car isn't broken, it can't be in here.
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This is, this is for building, this is for start-ups.
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This is for hardware and making prototypes and building stuff.
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Garages play a crucial role in the mythology Silicon Valley
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weaves around itself.
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Everyone remembers how
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Hewlett-Packard began in this one.
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Apple started in this one.
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And Google's early days were here.
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- What is it that you're doing?
- So I'm working out how to do CO2 conversion
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using ultraviolet energy from the sun.
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You can reverse climate change, you can terraform Mars...
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Reverse climate change!
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Yeah.
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Chemically, it's totally possible.
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This is called the hyper loop.
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Hyper loop is a new type of transportation system.
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You shoot at very high speed inside a tube
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and you can connect cities in a very short amount of time.
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But you must believe that technology like this is,
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in the end, it's going to help people,
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- it's going to help the world?
- Yeah, of course.
- Yeah.
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We are explorers, we are pushing boundaries, discovering new worlds.
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Every Sunday night, the mansion hosts expert speakers.
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People come from all over Silicon Valley to share ideas.
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You can't move without falling over a plan
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to solve one of the world's pressing problems.
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Our hamburger, the impossible burger, made from plants,
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uses a small fraction of the land,
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the water, and the greenhouse gas emissions
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that a traditional burger would use.
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We're looking to change the whole food system in the US.
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And the world.
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Among this slightly cultish crowd
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I found a man who scaled the heights of Silicon Valley.
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Bill Hunt created five start-ups he sold for half a billion dollars.
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What do you think the attitude here is to change and to changing things,
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changing how industries work, changing how society works?
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There's a lot of that.
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There's a lot of focus on disruption.
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VOICEOVER: Here it is. The most potent idea
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at the heart of Silicon Valley's ideology.
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Disruption.
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There is a mind-set here that's very focused on disruption.
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What can you do such that you're not just talking about
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how we can make money,
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but how can we do things in a new way, in a better way,
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that makes the world better, both financially and socially?
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It's thinking about, like, how do we get rid of this previous industry,
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this previous architecture, this previous system
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and find a new way to do it, a way that's better?
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The quantum properties of different matter can be in a superposition,
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meaning that they are...
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This place is kind of
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what the dream of Silicon Valley is, I suppose.
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The... The idea that just armed with a bit of technology
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and a thought about how to change the world,
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you can actually make it happen.
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You can completely transform the way things are done.
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And that you can use technology in a way that will radically improve
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the lives of millions of people.
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And I think they really all believed in that as well.
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The same fervour can be heard from the tech gods too.
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In Silicon Valley, it's got a really positive association.
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To be disruptive means you're changing the world.
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It all sounds so hopeful.
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But behind Silicon Valley's ideals of disruption
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is a more traditional business reality.
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Cold, hard cash.
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Start-ups are drawn to Silicon Valley
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because of another vast industry -
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venture capital.
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Financiers who gamble billions of dollars on young companies
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in the hope of finding another Facebook or Google.
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But investment has a consequence.
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The founders of the two most valuable start-ups here,
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Airbnb and Uber,
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have attracted billions of dollars of venture capital.
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Even though Airbnb has only just begun to turn a profit
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and Uber has been losing billions.
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Maybe more than profit,
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venture capitalists want to see the potential for profit.
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And that creates a huge pressure on these companies
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to show that they're always growing.
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Increasing the number of customers as quickly as possible -
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"killing it", as they say here - is the start-up mantra.
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But what does it mean for Silicon Valley's mission
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to build a better world?
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San Francisco.
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Home of tech's newest disruptors,
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Uber and Airbnb.
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It is a city of extremes.
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Private buses take tech workers to Silicon Valley.
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Not far away,
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food queues and the very different lives of those left behind.
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I'm here to meet the tech company that has raised more money than
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any other, more than 16 billion.
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Uber's not even a taxi company at all, really.
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It's a sort of revolutionary new type of transportation network.
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There's this fundamental need to make transportation better,
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to make getting around cities better.
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You're talking about literally taking congestion off the road,
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you're talking about taking pollution out of the air.
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Founder Travis Kalanick's utopian vision sounds persuasive.
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But scandals over sexism and bullying finished him off as CEO.
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There he is.
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Just eight years old,
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the company operates in more than 450 cities across 76 countries.
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So what's the truth about the kind of world Uber is building?
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I'm meeting Uber's head of transportation policy.
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- Welcome.
- Wow, it's huge!
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What is the aesthetic?
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Open. I think. Open-plan.
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Food.
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So tell me a bit about
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what the kind of vision of Uber is.
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Yeah. I mean, the vision is getting away from everybody needing
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to drive their own car everywhere they go.
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Right, if you look at a place like the US,
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where the overwhelming majority of travel is done by people driving
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their own car, and that has lots of consequences.
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Not just in terms of the number of vehicles people need to own,
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but how cities are designed and laid out.
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Everything from the amount of parking that we have,
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to the amount of fatalities on the road, to environmental impact.
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VOICEOVER: There it is.
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A pure expression of Silicon Valley utopianism.
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Is this a profit-making company, or is it a social mission, then?
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- What is this?
- That's what's nice about it.
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I think by driving the business towards supporting people
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into shared cars... Right, there's a profit-making incentive there,
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obviously we're here to make money as a private business.
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But as you start to get into different places
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and you change how people use vehicles,
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then you have all these other effects that you start to open up.
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In Silicon Valley, there is no contradiction
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between chasing a healthy profit
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and claiming to be working for the good of humanity.
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But disruption means what it says.
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Around the world, traditional taxi drivers have protested
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about Uber undercutting their prices.
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It's classic Silicon Valley disruption -
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destroying old industries
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by providing a popular, cheap alternative.
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But the social cost of this disruption goes much further.
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India.
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Home to more than a billion people and Uber's top target
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for global growth.
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I'm in Hyderabad to see the human consequences
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of the disruption cooked up in San Francisco.
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Uber is promising a new kind of flexible job,
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empowering its drivers.
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But the reality has been far less liberating.
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Narasimha and Mahendar were attracted by Uber's pitch.
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With no profits and under huge pressure
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to grow against a strong local rival,
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Uber ran adverts on billboards and in the press,
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promising drivers up to £1,100 a month,
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around four times what these drivers had been earning.
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Car ownership is low in India,
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especially among those likely to drive for Uber.
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So the company helps drivers borrow money to buy new cars.
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Narasimha borrowed around £12,500 to buy a Tata Indigo.
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Mahendar borrowed around £8,000 to buy a Tata Indica.
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As the number of Uber drivers rose,
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the number of customers did not keep up,
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so earnings fell.
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With a ready supply of drivers, the company cut incentives too.
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I'm meeting one family whose lives have been utterly changed
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after Uber's promise turned to a nightmare.
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Mohammed Zaheer worked as a taxi driver.
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When Uber opened up, he couldn't wait to join.
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Was he excited by this opportunity?
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Mohammed borrowed around £8,500 to buy a Tata Indicar.
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Soon his earnings fell, like many other drivers.
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Were you under pressure from,
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from people who lent you money?
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In 2015, Mohammed joined other Uber drivers on strike,
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angry over falling earnings.
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Noorjahan remembers the last time
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she spoke to her husband on the phone.
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A few hours later, Mohammed was found dead.
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Mohammed had hanged himself.
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His body was taken to the Uber offices.
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The company did not respond.
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I mean, after everything that's happened...
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..what do you now think of Uber as a company?
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Two other Uber drivers have killed themselves in Hyderabad.
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A former Uber executive has agreed to talk to me anonymously.
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Do you think you could have been, or should have been, more...
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..open with the drivers about how their salaries or their incentives
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might change in the future?
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I could have been. I would say, yes.
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Obviously, yes. Drivers were misled.
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They're totally misled.
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That is actually causing all the pain for a lot of people.
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The mantra of Silicon Valley is that disruption is always good.
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And through smartphones and digital technology,
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we can create more efficient, more convenient, faster services.
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And everyone wins from that.
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But behind that beautifully designed app,
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or that slick platform,
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there's a quite brutal form of capitalism unfolding,
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and it's leaving some of the poorest people in society behind.
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In a statement, Uber said their heart goes out to Noorjahan
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and her family. Uber supported the authorities' investigation
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of this case and will continue to do so if requested.
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Uber said drivers are at the heart of what they do
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and they're committed to improving their experience.
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In India, Uber is listening to them and acting on what they learn.
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Back in Silicon Valley,
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I'm realising how much energy the tech titans devote to one thing...
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..presenting themselves as the heroes of the people,
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taking on all kinds of vested interests.
278
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One of the most remarkable branding tricks of the 21st century
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has been the way that Silicon Valley has managed to persuade us
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that they're not like other companies.
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I mean, when you think about banks or big pharma, oil,
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you imagine them as being driven only by profit.
283
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And yet Silicon Valley, we imagine, is different.
284
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They are puffed up with social purpose to improve the world,
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that they're the good guys.
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Dear stranger,
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when I booked this trip, my friend said I was crazy...
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The founders of Airbnb, for example,
289
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are connecting the world,
290
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not simply allowing people to advertise holiday lets.
291
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I just wanted to thank you for sharing your world with me.
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Airbnb, belong anywhere.
293
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This is Airbnb's global headquarters in San Francisco.
294
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I wonder whether I'll get another dose
295
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of Silicon Valley utopianism here.
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We're on our way.
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Chris, I'm Jamie.
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How are you doing? Nice to meet you.
299
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VOICEOVER: Chris Lehane was once called the master of disaster.
300
00:20:40,080 --> 00:20:44,480
As Bill Clinton's spin doctor, he managed the Monica Lewinsky scandal.
301
00:20:46,120 --> 00:20:49,200
Chris is now Airbnb's head of global policy.
302
00:20:50,480 --> 00:20:53,000
Like all the tech gods of Silicon Valley,
303
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the founders of Airbnb have their own exulted creation myth.
304
00:20:58,120 --> 00:21:01,040
Two of the three founders were living in an apartment
305
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on Rausch Street in San Francisco.
306
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There was actually an art conference that was coming to the city,
307
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so they came up with this idea
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that they advertised as air bed and breakfast on a lister
309
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and, after that weekend,
310
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a light bulb went over their head, which is,
311
00:21:14,800 --> 00:21:16,160
maybe there is a business here.
312
00:21:16,160 --> 00:21:18,760
So, hang on, is this a model of their room?
313
00:21:18,760 --> 00:21:20,880
This is a model of one of the rooms
314
00:21:20,880 --> 00:21:23,280
that would have been in the original listing,
315
00:21:23,280 --> 00:21:26,640
and there's actually something called, up on the fourth floor,
316
00:21:26,640 --> 00:21:29,840
which I think is around the corner over here, called the founders' den,
317
00:21:29,840 --> 00:21:33,120
where they actually did their meetings and came up with the idea.
318
00:21:34,600 --> 00:21:41,200
Today, Airbnb is a global giant, valued at around 31 billion,
319
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but it doesn't see itself as big business.
320
00:21:44,840 --> 00:21:48,440
We do like to think of ourselves as a different type of company.
321
00:21:48,440 --> 00:21:52,320
The founders' initial idea was make money off of what is typically
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your greatest expense, which is your housing,
323
00:21:54,400 --> 00:21:58,600
to be able to stay in your housing, and that still remains true today.
324
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You know, over half the people who are on the platform
325
00:22:01,320 --> 00:22:04,960
are low to moderate income people, regular people.
326
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They use it to cover basic expenses, including the cost of their housing.
327
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Airbnb believes its online marketplace is empowering people.
328
00:22:14,360 --> 00:22:18,040
Our founders, they came up with a real vision here,
329
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and the vision was to be able to use the platform
330
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to connect people to people.
331
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We like to say, we are of the people, by the people,
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for the people, but really they use the platform so that people can
333
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spend time with one another.
334
00:22:27,920 --> 00:22:30,000
You think about what's going on in the world today,
335
00:22:30,000 --> 00:22:32,080
and people are talking about building walls,
336
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closing doors, putting up barriers.
337
00:22:33,680 --> 00:22:36,160
A real question of whether we are going to have an open society
338
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or a closed society, and this is a place
339
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that is really focused on using technology
340
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to help create an open society.
341
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Airbnb claims to be on the side of the little people,
342
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and the only losers from their disruption
343
00:22:49,160 --> 00:22:51,120
are traditional hotel owners.
344
00:22:53,840 --> 00:22:56,520
But that's not how it feels in Barcelona,
345
00:22:56,520 --> 00:22:59,800
where Airbnb has run into a spot of bother.
346
00:23:02,520 --> 00:23:06,120
These people have rented an apartment through the website.
347
00:23:07,240 --> 00:23:12,880
They are not tourists but locals, staging a protest against Airbnb.
348
00:23:14,000 --> 00:23:16,760
They are angry rents in the city are going up
349
00:23:16,760 --> 00:23:20,160
as landlords cater more and more to tourists.
350
00:23:20,160 --> 00:23:24,440
They are increasing the prices of the normal rents in Barcelona.
351
00:23:37,840 --> 00:23:40,480
The local government is trying to control
352
00:23:40,480 --> 00:23:43,560
the growth of tourist accommodation in the city.
353
00:23:43,560 --> 00:23:46,960
All short-term rental properties must be licensed.
354
00:23:46,960 --> 00:23:48,480
This flat isn't.
355
00:23:51,160 --> 00:23:54,280
The group prepare a statement they will read from the balcony.
356
00:24:06,000 --> 00:24:09,360
Before long, the agent managing the property arrives.
357
00:24:43,360 --> 00:24:48,320
It turns out the agent is managing 13 properties in Barcelona,
358
00:24:48,320 --> 00:24:49,800
all advertised on Airbnb.
359
00:25:06,720 --> 00:25:11,200
It's not just Barcelona that has seen protests like this.
360
00:25:11,200 --> 00:25:15,480
Residents of other cities around the world have also raised fears Airbnb
361
00:25:15,480 --> 00:25:18,400
is driving up rents and pushing locals out.
362
00:25:29,840 --> 00:25:33,680
Airbnb has now banned this property agent from the platform
363
00:25:33,680 --> 00:25:35,400
for breaking their rules.
364
00:25:40,200 --> 00:25:43,160
These were local protesters that were in the streets,
365
00:25:43,160 --> 00:25:46,520
unhappy with the way Airbnb was working with the authority,
366
00:25:46,520 --> 00:25:49,440
and the effects that was having in Barcelona.
367
00:25:49,440 --> 00:25:52,480
It wasn't large corporations. It was ordinary citizens in the city.
368
00:25:52,480 --> 00:25:53,600
But that makes the point.
369
00:25:53,600 --> 00:25:55,840
There isn't a regulatory structure in Barcelona.
370
00:25:55,840 --> 00:25:58,720
The government, up until recently,
371
00:25:58,720 --> 00:26:01,640
has resisted actually getting involved, sitting down like we're
372
00:26:01,640 --> 00:26:02,680
sitting down right now,
373
00:26:02,680 --> 00:26:05,600
and actually coming up with a regulatory structure that can work.
374
00:26:05,600 --> 00:26:08,280
In a number of other cities, people have sat down
375
00:26:08,280 --> 00:26:11,160
and we've figured it out, and it's really working well.
376
00:26:11,160 --> 00:26:13,200
So, at the end of the day,
377
00:26:13,200 --> 00:26:16,720
to address something that is a new thing that has come along,
378
00:26:16,720 --> 00:26:19,920
you actually have to have both sides sit down and figure it out
379
00:26:19,920 --> 00:26:21,440
and work it through.
380
00:26:24,480 --> 00:26:27,360
It's a classic argument from the disruptors.
381
00:26:27,360 --> 00:26:31,000
Regulators, governments, elected politicians,
382
00:26:31,000 --> 00:26:32,840
they all have to catch up,
383
00:26:32,840 --> 00:26:36,320
change their policies to take account of the new reality.
384
00:26:40,400 --> 00:26:44,120
In fact, Silicon Valley seems to have a pretty dim view
385
00:26:44,120 --> 00:26:46,320
of governments in general.
386
00:26:46,320 --> 00:26:49,480
That is most evident when it comes to tax.
387
00:26:49,480 --> 00:26:51,240
- David.
- Hey. Wonderful to meet you.
388
00:26:51,240 --> 00:26:53,120
- How are you doing?
- Doing well.
389
00:26:53,120 --> 00:26:54,960
I'm here to see Larry.
390
00:26:54,960 --> 00:26:57,200
Yeah, we're going to take you right over there.
391
00:26:57,200 --> 00:27:00,480
You can get an idea of Silicon Valley's attitude to tax
392
00:27:00,480 --> 00:27:04,120
by looking at how the companies behave in their own back yard.
393
00:27:05,280 --> 00:27:07,640
Larry. Jamie, how are you doing?
394
00:27:07,640 --> 00:27:09,840
- Glad to see you.
- What a beautiful office.
395
00:27:09,840 --> 00:27:11,160
Glad you're here.
396
00:27:13,200 --> 00:27:17,640
Larry Stone is the assessor for Santa Clara County,
397
00:27:17,640 --> 00:27:21,680
a friend of presidents and would-be presidents.
398
00:27:21,680 --> 00:27:25,920
Within a five-mile radius of where we're standing...
399
00:27:27,040 --> 00:27:31,600
..almost all the major corporations in Silicon Valley -
400
00:27:31,600 --> 00:27:35,880
Google, Apple, Facebook's about five miles away.
401
00:27:35,880 --> 00:27:40,280
Companies here pay local property tax at a rate of 1%
402
00:27:40,280 --> 00:27:44,160
of the value of all their buildings and equipment.
403
00:27:44,160 --> 00:27:46,520
It's the job of Larry and his team
404
00:27:46,520 --> 00:27:49,320
to work out the value of this property.
405
00:27:49,320 --> 00:27:54,360
I'm interested in whether those tech firms tend to disagree
406
00:27:54,360 --> 00:27:56,360
with what you're saying they owe in tax.
407
00:27:56,360 --> 00:27:57,800
Many of them do, yes.
408
00:27:57,800 --> 00:28:02,440
I mean, we have about 70 billion
409
00:28:02,440 --> 00:28:06,800
of what we call value at risk.
410
00:28:06,800 --> 00:28:08,680
Sorry, 70 billion?
411
00:28:08,680 --> 00:28:10,080
Of assessed value at risk.
412
00:28:10,080 --> 00:28:12,720
What, that's being appealed or disputed by those companies?
413
00:28:12,720 --> 00:28:14,680
Correct. Correct.
414
00:28:14,680 --> 00:28:18,520
And about 80% of that are major corporations -
415
00:28:18,520 --> 00:28:20,040
Apple, Google.
416
00:28:25,320 --> 00:28:27,160
Larry wants to show me the subject
417
00:28:27,160 --> 00:28:30,680
of one of his biggest battles over tax.
418
00:28:30,680 --> 00:28:32,240
Apple.
419
00:28:32,240 --> 00:28:34,480
When completed, their new headquarters
420
00:28:34,480 --> 00:28:38,160
will be the most impressive in Silicon Valley.
421
00:28:38,160 --> 00:28:39,400
Quite the place, huh?
422
00:28:43,760 --> 00:28:46,320
But why? Isn't this just a public street?
423
00:28:49,040 --> 00:28:50,800
Why are they so secretive?
424
00:28:50,800 --> 00:28:53,320
That's the mind-set,
425
00:28:53,320 --> 00:28:57,000
the culture of the company is secrecy.
426
00:28:57,000 --> 00:28:58,040
And always has been.
427
00:28:59,800 --> 00:29:02,360
VOICEOVER: The constant hum of mild paranoia
428
00:29:02,360 --> 00:29:04,720
is never far away in Silicon Valley.
429
00:29:06,640 --> 00:29:07,680
But we can...
430
00:29:09,120 --> 00:29:11,840
These folks are from the BBC.
431
00:29:13,760 --> 00:29:15,560
No, he's filming me, I think.
432
00:29:15,560 --> 00:29:16,600
OK.
433
00:29:18,960 --> 00:29:21,120
Yeah. Well, we're just standing in the street.
434
00:29:25,000 --> 00:29:27,680
With a mile-long circumference,
435
00:29:27,680 --> 00:29:31,080
Apple Park will be a modern-day Colosseum.
436
00:29:31,080 --> 00:29:34,200
Its centre will be a park for Apple staff.
437
00:29:34,200 --> 00:29:38,120
It's expected to cost more than 5 billion.
438
00:29:38,120 --> 00:29:40,000
Look at this, the scale of it.
439
00:29:40,000 --> 00:29:42,280
- Yeah.
- It's for show as well.
440
00:29:42,280 --> 00:29:44,280
It's like sort of...
441
00:29:44,280 --> 00:29:48,640
It's like emperors building a new temple to themselves, you know.
442
00:29:49,920 --> 00:29:51,520
It's sort of vanity.
443
00:29:51,520 --> 00:29:54,120
It's unbelievable. It's a vanity project.
444
00:29:54,120 --> 00:29:58,280
If Steve Jobs was here right now, he would love to hear you say that.
445
00:29:58,280 --> 00:30:00,760
Steve, it's working!
446
00:30:00,760 --> 00:30:02,680
THEY LAUGH
447
00:30:02,680 --> 00:30:07,320
Last year, Apple paid nearly 34 million in local property tax,
448
00:30:07,320 --> 00:30:10,240
the second largest amount in Santa Clara County.
449
00:30:11,920 --> 00:30:15,880
But it is disputing the largest amount of value,
450
00:30:15,880 --> 00:30:19,440
covering 2010 to 2015.
451
00:30:19,440 --> 00:30:24,760
We have 6.8 billion worth of assessment appeals.
452
00:30:24,760 --> 00:30:26,880
So you said it's worth £6.8 billion.
453
00:30:26,880 --> 00:30:31,720
Yeah. They say it's worth 57 million.
454
00:30:31,720 --> 00:30:34,560
- OK.
- That's...
- So they're essentially...
455
00:30:34,560 --> 00:30:37,120
That's a big... That's a pretty big...
456
00:30:37,120 --> 00:30:40,480
They are disputing 99% of their value.
457
00:30:40,480 --> 00:30:46,120
How do you...? How can it be possible that you say,
458
00:30:46,120 --> 00:30:50,720
this stuff you own is worth nearly 7 billion, and they say,
459
00:30:50,720 --> 00:30:52,320
no, it's only worth 50 million?
460
00:30:53,520 --> 00:30:56,680
- How is that possible?
- Well, because that's what they file.
461
00:30:56,680 --> 00:31:01,400
Now, obviously, it's not worth 57 million.
462
00:31:01,400 --> 00:31:03,840
So how are they coming up with this number?
463
00:31:05,840 --> 00:31:08,280
Pulling it out of some part of their anatomy,
464
00:31:08,280 --> 00:31:11,800
but I don't know if it's the top of their head or is it something else.
465
00:31:13,200 --> 00:31:15,880
If Apple's appeal succeeds in full,
466
00:31:15,880 --> 00:31:21,320
68 million of tax would be slashed to just over 0.5 million.
467
00:31:23,760 --> 00:31:27,480
Apple isn't the only tech titan filing local property tax appeals.
468
00:31:29,160 --> 00:31:33,080
The company has funded over 70 million of local improvements.
469
00:31:34,360 --> 00:31:38,280
VOICEOVER: But I wondered what Larry thought all this means for society.
470
00:31:38,280 --> 00:31:42,520
After all, this local tax pays for schools and other services.
471
00:31:43,680 --> 00:31:47,720
In the '50s, '60s and '70s, Detroit was the envy of the world.
472
00:31:47,720 --> 00:31:49,720
Today, Detroit is in bankruptcy.
473
00:31:49,720 --> 00:31:53,640
We could go the same way if we don't solve our public education
474
00:31:53,640 --> 00:31:56,880
and if we don't resolve our commitment to the community
475
00:31:56,880 --> 00:32:00,200
as a people, as citizens and corporations.
476
00:32:02,320 --> 00:32:05,240
Around the world, tech giants have been accused
477
00:32:05,240 --> 00:32:08,080
of aggressively minimising their tax bills.
478
00:32:09,360 --> 00:32:14,280
The EU is demanding Apple pay up to £11 billion of tax
479
00:32:14,280 --> 00:32:17,080
it says is owed to Ireland.
480
00:32:17,080 --> 00:32:19,520
But how they deal locally with these issues,
481
00:32:19,520 --> 00:32:22,200
how they deal locally with their local taxman,
482
00:32:22,200 --> 00:32:25,320
says something about the culture of these places,
483
00:32:25,320 --> 00:32:30,560
the general approach of always trying to minimise the tax they pay
484
00:32:30,560 --> 00:32:33,680
or trying to work around governments.
485
00:32:33,680 --> 00:32:36,160
It makes a lot more sense
486
00:32:36,160 --> 00:32:39,480
when you come here and you see how a company like Apple behaves
487
00:32:39,480 --> 00:32:41,360
in its own back yard.
488
00:32:51,200 --> 00:32:54,680
Of course, there's nothing new about technological disruption.
489
00:32:56,280 --> 00:32:58,360
Steam power, electricity,
490
00:32:58,360 --> 00:33:01,440
production lines destroyed the industries that existed
491
00:33:01,440 --> 00:33:04,400
before them and forced governments to change.
492
00:33:05,560 --> 00:33:08,520
The world survived, life got better.
493
00:33:08,520 --> 00:33:12,560
The question now is whether the Silicon Valley revolution
494
00:33:12,560 --> 00:33:14,600
is going to be different.
495
00:33:14,600 --> 00:33:19,000
The big secret in Silicon Valley is that the next wave of disruption
496
00:33:19,000 --> 00:33:21,200
is not going to be like the last,
497
00:33:21,200 --> 00:33:25,880
because it could tear apart the way capitalism works.
498
00:33:25,880 --> 00:33:28,400
And, as a result, the way we live our lives
499
00:33:28,400 --> 00:33:30,000
could be utterly transformed.
500
00:33:39,680 --> 00:33:42,480
Early morning on the edge of Orlando, Florida.
501
00:33:44,640 --> 00:33:47,440
I'm heading into the coming world.
502
00:33:49,840 --> 00:33:54,640
I'm on my way to do some disrupting with a group of people
503
00:33:54,640 --> 00:33:58,240
who want to change an entire industry,
504
00:33:58,240 --> 00:34:01,640
and they might end up changing the whole global economy
505
00:34:01,640 --> 00:34:02,720
and how it works.
506
00:34:08,160 --> 00:34:11,640
Our mission begins in the car park of a home improvement store.
507
00:34:14,000 --> 00:34:17,800
It's not the most obvious place to start a revolution,
508
00:34:17,800 --> 00:34:21,240
but this one has a certain do-it-yourself quality.
509
00:34:23,600 --> 00:34:25,600
It's absolutely huge.
510
00:34:29,280 --> 00:34:31,680
I've never been in a truck before.
511
00:34:31,680 --> 00:34:33,200
Oh, wow, this is it.
512
00:34:33,200 --> 00:34:34,800
Yeah.
513
00:34:34,800 --> 00:34:37,480
VOICEOVER: Meet Stefan Seltz-Axmacher,
514
00:34:37,480 --> 00:34:40,400
a 27-year-old who's raised 5 million
515
00:34:40,400 --> 00:34:43,120
with his plan to change the future.
516
00:34:46,000 --> 00:34:48,840
Tony Hughes is key to Stefan's plan.
517
00:34:49,880 --> 00:34:51,120
What is this?
518
00:34:53,600 --> 00:34:55,560
And we've got to get this over to...
519
00:34:56,920 --> 00:34:58,320
Which is... How far is that?
520
00:34:59,880 --> 00:35:03,160
All right, so we've got... How long have we got in the truck?
521
00:35:03,160 --> 00:35:05,640
Well, then, let's do it. All aboard.
522
00:35:07,160 --> 00:35:08,800
All right.
523
00:35:08,800 --> 00:35:09,840
Let's go.
524
00:35:15,240 --> 00:35:18,960
More than three million trucks carry freight on America's highways.
525
00:35:21,960 --> 00:35:24,200
This truck isn't like the others.
526
00:35:33,880 --> 00:35:35,320
Tony, is the system good?
527
00:35:36,440 --> 00:35:37,960
Car check, is the system good?
528
00:35:39,480 --> 00:35:41,560
OK. Rosebud on, Rosebud on.
529
00:35:45,160 --> 00:35:48,640
So you're not touching the wheel. I can see the other wheel's moving.
530
00:35:50,280 --> 00:35:51,840
My God!
531
00:35:53,720 --> 00:35:55,120
It's quite scary.
532
00:35:56,640 --> 00:35:58,200
It's just driving itself, man.
533
00:35:59,880 --> 00:36:03,720
Stefan and his team have made this truck drive itself
534
00:36:03,720 --> 00:36:05,280
by adding a computer
535
00:36:05,280 --> 00:36:07,680
that controls the pedals and steering wheel.
536
00:36:09,160 --> 00:36:13,400
They're hoping, by adapting the huge existing truck fleet,
537
00:36:13,400 --> 00:36:17,680
they can beat bigger rival companies racing to build expensive
538
00:36:17,680 --> 00:36:20,680
self-driving trucks from scratch.
539
00:36:20,680 --> 00:36:23,200
You see, every time it veers a little bit, my heart goes.
540
00:36:23,200 --> 00:36:25,040
I'm thinking, "Oh, God, it's lost control."
541
00:36:25,040 --> 00:36:28,040
And then it kind of comes back in again.
542
00:36:29,840 --> 00:36:31,880
Like, your heart beats just a little bit quicker,
543
00:36:31,880 --> 00:36:33,040
because you're thinking,
544
00:36:33,040 --> 00:36:36,360
"Oh, my God, we've got suddenly this huge vehicle that we're all in is
545
00:36:36,360 --> 00:36:40,800
"being controlled not by the driver but by the computer."
546
00:36:46,000 --> 00:36:48,000
VOICEOVER: I can't help wondering.
547
00:36:48,000 --> 00:36:50,160
Trucking is one of the best-paid jobs
548
00:36:50,160 --> 00:36:53,240
open to people without a degree, but for how long?
549
00:36:54,720 --> 00:36:59,800
Among America's 3.5 million truck drivers, Tony is a rarity.
550
00:37:01,320 --> 00:37:03,840
What do they say when you tell them what you're doing?
551
00:37:05,480 --> 00:37:07,360
They call me a traitor because they say,
552
00:37:07,360 --> 00:37:09,080
"You're taking our jobs away from us."
553
00:37:09,080 --> 00:37:11,480
- They call you a traitor?
- Yeah.
554
00:37:11,480 --> 00:37:13,800
How does that make you feel?
555
00:37:13,800 --> 00:37:17,240
As long as I'm satisfied with the job that I'm doing out here
556
00:37:17,240 --> 00:37:19,440
and making lives better for other drivers,
557
00:37:19,440 --> 00:37:21,160
they can say whatever they want.
558
00:37:21,160 --> 00:37:23,880
And this will make a difference in drivers' lives.
559
00:37:25,240 --> 00:37:29,840
Stefan's vision of self-driving trucks still requires drivers.
560
00:37:35,520 --> 00:37:40,520
They'd be needed to remotely pilot the trucks through busy depots or
561
00:37:40,520 --> 00:37:43,800
congested cities, on and off the motorway.
562
00:37:47,680 --> 00:37:49,560
How does it compare now, do you think,
563
00:37:49,560 --> 00:37:52,880
to if Tony is driving without the...?
564
00:37:52,880 --> 00:37:55,120
Well, the system still isn't as good as Tony.
565
00:37:57,120 --> 00:38:00,080
The goal is that it will be better
566
00:38:00,080 --> 00:38:02,480
than an above average or good driver
567
00:38:02,480 --> 00:38:04,960
- in the next couple of months.
- Next couple of months!
568
00:38:04,960 --> 00:38:08,400
- That's what we think.
- That's the speed at which it's improving.
569
00:38:08,400 --> 00:38:10,520
Because we're focusing on this particular domain.
570
00:38:10,520 --> 00:38:15,360
It's way easier, it's a way simpler to drive autonomously on the highway
571
00:38:15,360 --> 00:38:17,680
than to drive autonomously in a neighbourhood.
572
00:38:19,040 --> 00:38:21,040
There are way fewer variables that happen.
573
00:38:22,400 --> 00:38:25,680
There's no shortage of ambition in this cab.
574
00:38:25,680 --> 00:38:29,240
Our plan is to start to take people out of the vehicle on limited routes
575
00:38:29,240 --> 00:38:31,520
- by the end of the year.
- By the end of the year.
- Yeah.
576
00:38:32,960 --> 00:38:34,920
But there are some teething problems.
577
00:38:49,040 --> 00:38:52,120
We've got a team of engineers that are kind of driving with us,
578
00:38:52,120 --> 00:38:54,320
so we've stopped off in a lay-by, they've jumped out,
579
00:38:54,320 --> 00:38:57,120
they're checking the pedals, making sure everything is working.
580
00:38:57,120 --> 00:38:59,280
That's exactly what Silicon Valley's about.
581
00:38:59,280 --> 00:39:02,040
Once you are out there doing it and you're dealing with real-life
582
00:39:02,040 --> 00:39:04,720
problems, things going slightly wrong and fixing them up...
583
00:39:06,160 --> 00:39:09,240
..you can then demonstrate to the world
584
00:39:09,240 --> 00:39:10,880
that we have made this thing work.
585
00:39:10,880 --> 00:39:13,320
We're not going to wait around for all the regulations.
586
00:39:13,320 --> 00:39:15,720
And then, almost
587
00:39:15,720 --> 00:39:19,120
by virtue of demonstrating its power,
588
00:39:19,120 --> 00:39:21,520
it forces the world to change around it.
589
00:39:22,720 --> 00:39:24,480
And I think that's what happens
590
00:39:24,480 --> 00:39:27,440
when you take this kind of disruption philosophy,
591
00:39:27,440 --> 00:39:30,320
this idea of Silicon Valley, getting out there,
592
00:39:30,320 --> 00:39:34,360
changing things and then making the world catch up with them.
593
00:39:34,360 --> 00:39:36,440
That's why they've conquered the world.
594
00:39:45,640 --> 00:39:49,440
- We have arrived.
- We've made a delivery in an autonomous vehicle.
595
00:39:53,600 --> 00:39:56,960
Rosebud drove the truck for more than 100 miles today.
596
00:39:59,480 --> 00:40:03,800
Spending time with Stefan is a chance to find out if Silicon Valley
597
00:40:03,800 --> 00:40:07,480
worries about the possible downsides of automation.
598
00:40:08,960 --> 00:40:12,920
What if it just becomes so efficient,
599
00:40:12,920 --> 00:40:15,160
that we don't need drivers any more at all?
600
00:40:16,320 --> 00:40:18,480
Yeah. That's a thing that could happen,
601
00:40:18,480 --> 00:40:20,880
but we'll definitely find other things to do for work.
602
00:40:20,880 --> 00:40:24,600
In the 1920s, Keynes thought that by now we'd work a four-hour work week.
603
00:40:24,600 --> 00:40:26,640
We found a lot of other things to do.
604
00:40:26,640 --> 00:40:29,720
Social media managers, not a job in the 1920s.
605
00:40:29,720 --> 00:40:33,000
I think that we will inevitably find more things
606
00:40:33,000 --> 00:40:34,760
that we need to do as jobs.
607
00:40:34,760 --> 00:40:37,800
I just, I can't believe how optimistic you are.
608
00:40:37,800 --> 00:40:42,240
- Yeah.
- I mean, it's great, obviously, but does a little bit of you think,
609
00:40:42,240 --> 00:40:45,920
"Well, what if, what if there aren't jobs for people?
610
00:40:45,920 --> 00:40:49,360
"What if this time's different and we can't create the jobs?"
611
00:40:49,360 --> 00:40:51,960
You can see the possibility of negative outcomes from AI,
612
00:40:51,960 --> 00:40:54,520
like it would be foolish to say that there was no possibility
613
00:40:54,520 --> 00:40:56,640
that it could go badly.
614
00:40:56,640 --> 00:40:59,680
But look at what we, as a species, have overcome.
615
00:40:59,680 --> 00:41:03,720
You know, whether it's the black plague, whether it's slavery,
616
00:41:03,720 --> 00:41:08,480
Cold War with the threat of dead-hand nuclear orders, I mean,
617
00:41:08,480 --> 00:41:09,840
we've come by so far.
618
00:41:12,800 --> 00:41:17,080
But history may be no guide to the consequences
619
00:41:17,080 --> 00:41:18,800
of the next wave of disruption.
620
00:41:20,720 --> 00:41:23,440
What's different about this industrial revolution
621
00:41:23,440 --> 00:41:27,440
is that Silicon Valley's using data and software
622
00:41:27,440 --> 00:41:31,440
so machines can learn how to do things better than humans.
623
00:41:33,040 --> 00:41:35,480
So how far is this going to go?
624
00:41:37,040 --> 00:41:39,800
I'm meeting a pioneer of another technology
625
00:41:39,800 --> 00:41:43,280
that will change capitalism as we know it -
626
00:41:43,280 --> 00:41:44,680
artificial intelligence.
627
00:41:47,920 --> 00:41:49,840
- What is this?
- One Wheel.
628
00:41:51,320 --> 00:41:52,360
Well named, huh?
629
00:41:53,480 --> 00:41:55,760
In the world Jeremy Howard is building,
630
00:41:55,760 --> 00:41:58,600
it won't just be truck drivers or manual workers
631
00:41:58,600 --> 00:42:00,160
who stand to be replaced.
632
00:42:01,440 --> 00:42:04,400
Everyone's job will be precarious.
633
00:42:04,400 --> 00:42:07,600
You've got to have a go. If you lean forwards, there we go.
634
00:42:07,600 --> 00:42:09,560
If you lean forwards it goes forwards...
635
00:42:09,560 --> 00:42:11,480
- Oh, yeah.
- And lean backwards to go backwards.
636
00:42:11,480 --> 00:42:13,200
And then take your front foot off to stop.
637
00:42:13,200 --> 00:42:15,000
How are you so good at this?
638
00:42:15,000 --> 00:42:18,000
- How do I stop?
- Yeah, just lean back and then front foot off.
639
00:42:20,000 --> 00:42:21,840
Yeah.
640
00:42:21,840 --> 00:42:23,040
That was awesome!
641
00:42:23,040 --> 00:42:24,920
Guess where we get started.
642
00:42:26,160 --> 00:42:29,000
Go through to the garage.
643
00:42:29,000 --> 00:42:34,360
There's a clue here to how Jeremy is developing artificial intelligence,
644
00:42:34,360 --> 00:42:37,480
machines that can learn like we can.
645
00:42:37,480 --> 00:42:38,800
Why do I have Chinese books?
646
00:42:38,800 --> 00:42:41,320
Well, not because I wanted to learn Chinese,
647
00:42:41,320 --> 00:42:43,800
but because I wanted to learn how the mind works,
648
00:42:43,800 --> 00:42:47,480
and the best way to learn how the mind works was to try and learn
649
00:42:47,480 --> 00:42:50,760
- something difficult.
- Did you learn Chinese to learn how the mind works?
650
00:42:50,760 --> 00:42:53,760
Right, which I then used that in order to figure out how to implement
651
00:42:53,760 --> 00:42:55,280
that in machine learning.
652
00:42:57,280 --> 00:43:01,320
Artificial intelligence is at the heart of the start-up Jeremy
653
00:43:01,320 --> 00:43:05,000
founded to help combat the shortage of doctors and radiologists
654
00:43:05,000 --> 00:43:06,640
in the developing world.
655
00:43:06,640 --> 00:43:08,920
It turns out that figuring out what's wrong with you
656
00:43:08,920 --> 00:43:12,040
and how to make you better is just a data problem.
657
00:43:12,040 --> 00:43:14,480
So I was like, all right, I know how to do data problems.
658
00:43:14,480 --> 00:43:17,520
I don't know anything about medicine, but I know data problems.
659
00:43:18,800 --> 00:43:21,400
Jeremy uses deep learning software
660
00:43:21,400 --> 00:43:24,400
to diagnose cancer from medical images.
661
00:43:24,400 --> 00:43:29,160
The software learns from examples to identify patterns, like we do.
662
00:43:29,160 --> 00:43:33,320
It spots problems by inferring from what it has learned,
663
00:43:33,320 --> 00:43:35,680
becoming ever more accurate.
664
00:43:35,680 --> 00:43:39,520
The software that I built takes about 0.02 seconds
665
00:43:39,520 --> 00:43:41,040
to look at a CT scan.
666
00:43:41,040 --> 00:43:42,400
So it can look at a million...
667
00:43:42,400 --> 00:43:44,520
A human takes, to look at it properly?
668
00:43:44,520 --> 00:43:45,800
10-15 minutes.
669
00:43:45,800 --> 00:43:50,880
So we can look at a million CT scans like that, and now,
670
00:43:50,880 --> 00:43:55,200
and because we're using these neural networks, deep learning, to do it,
671
00:43:55,200 --> 00:43:57,360
it can literally develop an intuition,
672
00:43:57,360 --> 00:43:59,720
the same kind of intuition that a radiologist has.
673
00:43:59,720 --> 00:44:01,720
Within two months, we had something that beat
674
00:44:01,720 --> 00:44:05,040
the world's best radiologist to diagnose lung cancer.
675
00:44:05,040 --> 00:44:08,080
- Beat the world's best?
- Yeah, beat a panel of the world's best.
676
00:44:08,080 --> 00:44:11,040
VOICEOVER: Here, the march of the machines feels unstoppable.
677
00:44:12,320 --> 00:44:14,280
So this is going to get bigger, isn't it?
678
00:44:14,280 --> 00:44:17,000
Because deep learning, once it's out and once it's doing this,
679
00:44:17,000 --> 00:44:19,200
it's not going to stop at medical staff?
680
00:44:19,200 --> 00:44:22,800
I feel very similarly to how I felt in the late '80s when I saw
681
00:44:22,800 --> 00:44:26,280
the internet for the first time, and I started looking into it,
682
00:44:26,280 --> 00:44:27,800
and I started telling people,
683
00:44:27,800 --> 00:44:30,400
"I think the internet's going to be used for all things."
684
00:44:30,400 --> 00:44:34,960
When I look at deep learning, I see that...tenfold.
685
00:44:39,720 --> 00:44:44,480
Jeremy is using technology to make his own work more efficient.
686
00:44:46,320 --> 00:44:50,040
It turned out that at 0.8 miles per hour,
687
00:44:50,040 --> 00:44:53,000
I could study for twice as long,
688
00:44:53,000 --> 00:44:58,280
have half the errors and be twice as fast than no treadmill.
689
00:44:59,880 --> 00:45:04,080
The next wave of technology could make work more efficient,
690
00:45:04,080 --> 00:45:06,400
by removing us humans altogether.
691
00:45:07,760 --> 00:45:11,040
People aren't scared enough, you know?
692
00:45:11,040 --> 00:45:15,280
Far too many people are sounding like, smart people,
693
00:45:15,280 --> 00:45:17,400
are sounding like climate change denialists.
694
00:45:17,400 --> 00:45:21,840
They're saying, "Don't worry about it, there'll always be more jobs."
695
00:45:21,840 --> 00:45:25,040
And it's founded on this purely historical thing of like,
696
00:45:25,040 --> 00:45:26,800
"Oh, there's been a revolution before.
697
00:45:26,800 --> 00:45:28,720
"It was called the Industrial Revolution,
698
00:45:28,720 --> 00:45:31,520
"and after it there was still enough jobs.
699
00:45:31,520 --> 00:45:34,880
"Therefore, this new, totally different,
700
00:45:34,880 --> 00:45:37,960
"totally unrelated revolution will also have enough jobs."
701
00:45:40,000 --> 00:45:43,800
It's a ludicrously short-sighted and meaningless argument,
702
00:45:43,800 --> 00:45:46,120
which incredibly smart people are making.
703
00:45:51,920 --> 00:45:57,400
The totally utopian and dystopian futures are like very clearly
704
00:45:57,400 --> 00:46:01,520
in front of us. And very clearly we could head down to either.
705
00:46:01,520 --> 00:46:04,520
Honestly, the status quo -
706
00:46:04,520 --> 00:46:08,560
do nothing and we end up there - will definitely be a dystopia,
707
00:46:08,560 --> 00:46:13,640
which is a tiny class of society owns all of the capital
708
00:46:13,640 --> 00:46:18,360
and all of the data and everybody else has no economic value,
709
00:46:18,360 --> 00:46:23,040
is despised by the class that has things because they're worthless,
710
00:46:23,040 --> 00:46:25,480
and massive social unrest.
711
00:46:32,160 --> 00:46:33,560
It's the first time, I think...
712
00:46:35,200 --> 00:46:38,120
..I've felt party to this secret,
713
00:46:38,120 --> 00:46:41,440
that other people here seem to know and seem to talk about,
714
00:46:41,440 --> 00:46:43,600
whisper about,
715
00:46:43,600 --> 00:46:46,440
but they sort of cover it up and don't really want to say what it's
716
00:46:46,440 --> 00:46:49,880
going to be. He was very, very plain about what's happening.
717
00:46:49,880 --> 00:46:52,440
This technology's exponentially improving,
718
00:46:52,440 --> 00:46:55,320
it's going to change everything and we ought to be
719
00:46:55,320 --> 00:46:56,920
pretty afraid about that.
720
00:46:56,920 --> 00:46:59,480
And to actually hear that...
721
00:47:00,600 --> 00:47:02,680
..by someone that knows about this stuff...
722
00:47:04,160 --> 00:47:05,640
..is pretty revelatory.
723
00:47:09,680 --> 00:47:13,800
I want to know how far those at the top of Silicon Valley
724
00:47:13,800 --> 00:47:16,600
are really thinking about how automation
725
00:47:16,600 --> 00:47:18,120
will change all our lives.
726
00:47:21,480 --> 00:47:26,560
Finally, I've arranged to meet one of the tech gods themselves,
727
00:47:26,560 --> 00:47:30,120
a man who wields huge power here behind the scenes.
728
00:47:31,640 --> 00:47:33,040
Sam Altman is considered,
729
00:47:33,040 --> 00:47:35,640
I think more than anybody else in Silicon Valley,
730
00:47:35,640 --> 00:47:37,880
to be able to predict the future.
731
00:47:37,880 --> 00:47:40,000
He's like a kingmaker in Silicon Valley.
732
00:47:40,000 --> 00:47:44,280
He gets to choose what the big companies of tomorrow will be.
733
00:47:44,280 --> 00:47:48,080
Having him support your tech start-up,
734
00:47:48,080 --> 00:47:51,720
is considered to be one of the greatest badges of honour
735
00:47:51,720 --> 00:47:53,840
that you can get in Silicon Valley.
736
00:47:55,440 --> 00:47:58,680
Sam runs this place - Y Combinator.
737
00:47:58,680 --> 00:48:02,040
A company that nurtures start-ups with money and advice.
738
00:48:03,160 --> 00:48:05,360
Better not park in Sam Altman's place.
739
00:48:05,360 --> 00:48:08,760
Its companies are now valued at 80 billion,
740
00:48:08,760 --> 00:48:12,520
including its biggest success, Airbnb.
741
00:48:12,520 --> 00:48:14,760
- Hi.
- Nicole?
- I'm Nicole.
742
00:48:14,760 --> 00:48:16,640
- Hi, I'm Jamie.
- Nice to meet you.
743
00:48:16,640 --> 00:48:18,120
How are you doing? Nice to meet you.
744
00:48:18,120 --> 00:48:20,240
- Thanks for having us.
- So great to be here.
745
00:48:20,240 --> 00:48:22,880
VOICEOVER: Sam's time is carefully allotted.
746
00:48:24,320 --> 00:48:26,160
I just kind of wanted to go over the flow,
747
00:48:26,160 --> 00:48:29,000
because Sam only has 35 minutes to meet with you today.
748
00:48:29,000 --> 00:48:30,400
- Is he very busy?
- Yeah.
749
00:48:30,400 --> 00:48:32,920
So we can walk in and I can introduce you to everybody,
750
00:48:32,920 --> 00:48:36,960
and then you can interview Sam on the couch for 35 minutes.
751
00:48:36,960 --> 00:48:38,120
OK.
752
00:48:41,680 --> 00:48:43,120
She's just setting up now.
753
00:48:48,360 --> 00:48:49,480
Yeah?
754
00:48:55,560 --> 00:48:58,680
- Welcome to Y Combinator.
- Thank you for having us.
755
00:49:00,280 --> 00:49:02,360
- Sam, I'm Jamie.
- Very nice to meet you.
756
00:49:02,360 --> 00:49:03,400
Nice to meet you.
757
00:49:05,960 --> 00:49:09,520
Sam Altman co-founded his first business when he was 19.
758
00:49:10,960 --> 00:49:12,800
After dropping out of university,
759
00:49:12,800 --> 00:49:15,880
he sold it for more than 40 million.
760
00:49:15,880 --> 00:49:17,840
He's now 32.
761
00:49:17,840 --> 00:49:19,160
You're considered, I think,
762
00:49:19,160 --> 00:49:21,320
in Silicon Valley as one of the people
763
00:49:21,320 --> 00:49:24,200
that sees the future better than most.
764
00:49:24,200 --> 00:49:26,320
So, what are you seeing?
765
00:49:28,680 --> 00:49:31,720
A friend of mine says the best way to predict the future
766
00:49:31,720 --> 00:49:33,040
is to invent it.
767
00:49:33,040 --> 00:49:35,720
And that is a thought that has always stuck with me.
768
00:49:37,760 --> 00:49:41,200
Sam is thinking hard about what the future could be like
769
00:49:41,200 --> 00:49:44,680
after automation takes away the jobs of millions of us.
770
00:49:46,320 --> 00:49:48,840
We're going to need to have new redistribution,
771
00:49:48,840 --> 00:49:51,080
we're going to need to have new social safety nets.
772
00:49:51,080 --> 00:49:52,720
One thing, one product that I'm funding
773
00:49:52,720 --> 00:49:54,120
that we're doing at Y Combinator
774
00:49:54,120 --> 00:49:55,920
is to study basic income,
775
00:49:55,920 --> 00:50:00,600
and what happens if you just give people money to live on.
776
00:50:00,600 --> 00:50:03,040
Because we have this world, we have huge wealth,
777
00:50:03,040 --> 00:50:04,440
but it's very concentrated.
778
00:50:04,440 --> 00:50:07,680
What happens if you just give people money and say, you know,
779
00:50:07,680 --> 00:50:11,840
here's enough money to have a house and eat and to have fun?
780
00:50:11,840 --> 00:50:16,240
Do you think people would find fulfilment and all the other things,
781
00:50:16,240 --> 00:50:18,560
dignity in work for example,
782
00:50:18,560 --> 00:50:24,360
under a system where there's a small number of very rich people
783
00:50:24,360 --> 00:50:28,480
and they're being given money to...
784
00:50:30,040 --> 00:50:32,080
..find things to do with their time?
785
00:50:32,080 --> 00:50:34,840
I mean, it sounds pretty terrible, pretty terrifying to me.
786
00:50:34,840 --> 00:50:37,200
You have a very pessimistic view of the future.
787
00:50:37,200 --> 00:50:40,200
I hope you're wrong. I believe that someone, you know,
788
00:50:40,200 --> 00:50:44,120
doing mechanical labour is not the best fulfilment
789
00:50:44,120 --> 00:50:45,720
of their dreams and aspirations.
790
00:50:45,720 --> 00:50:47,000
But the problem, I think,
791
00:50:47,000 --> 00:50:49,520
or the thing that makes me pessimistic or nervous,
792
00:50:49,520 --> 00:50:52,040
is that society will have to change dramatically,
793
00:50:52,040 --> 00:50:53,440
and that's quite worrying.
794
00:50:53,440 --> 00:50:55,840
Look, I believe society will have to change dramatically.
795
00:50:55,840 --> 00:50:57,800
I think we've been through many of these before,
796
00:50:57,800 --> 00:51:01,640
and, look, I understand that people have this spirit of,
797
00:51:01,640 --> 00:51:04,680
"I'm going to hang onto the past at all costs,
798
00:51:04,680 --> 00:51:06,480
"I hate progress and I hate change."
799
00:51:06,480 --> 00:51:08,880
- But it's not that...
- And I hear that from you, I get it.
800
00:51:08,880 --> 00:51:11,160
It's not that. It's not hating progress.
801
00:51:11,160 --> 00:51:14,120
What if the progress that you're, not just you,
802
00:51:14,120 --> 00:51:18,040
but the community here's creating, is not what other people want?
803
00:51:18,040 --> 00:51:21,680
There are 40 million people in the US that live in poverty.
804
00:51:21,680 --> 00:51:24,280
If technology can eliminate human suffering...
805
00:51:25,800 --> 00:51:28,960
..we should do that. If technology can generate more wealth
806
00:51:28,960 --> 00:51:31,080
and we can figure out how to distribute that better,
807
00:51:31,080 --> 00:51:32,120
we should do that.
808
00:51:32,120 --> 00:51:34,000
I think it's an important job for journalists
809
00:51:34,000 --> 00:51:37,440
to try to ask about the negative possibilities of this stuff.
810
00:51:37,440 --> 00:51:41,120
I think if you continue this thrust of, shouldn't we stop progress,
811
00:51:41,120 --> 00:51:43,080
no-one's going to take you seriously,
812
00:51:43,080 --> 00:51:45,680
because people want this stuff, and people don't...
813
00:51:45,680 --> 00:51:48,320
People don't think that we should still have people in poverty.
814
00:51:48,320 --> 00:51:50,680
People don't think that we should take away our iPhones
815
00:51:50,680 --> 00:51:52,000
and take away Facebook.
816
00:51:52,000 --> 00:51:54,200
So I think you can add a really important voice,
817
00:51:54,200 --> 00:51:57,240
but I worry you're going in the wrong direction with this,
818
00:51:57,240 --> 00:51:59,280
like, anti-progress angle.
819
00:52:13,960 --> 00:52:16,280
Orcas Island, north of Seattle.
820
00:52:18,160 --> 00:52:20,320
The edge of American civilisation.
821
00:52:23,240 --> 00:52:27,080
I'm here to meet one former Silicon Valley insider
822
00:52:27,080 --> 00:52:30,360
who fears where technological progress could be taking us.
823
00:52:32,720 --> 00:52:35,560
Whenever I talk to normals, which is what they call you people,
824
00:52:35,560 --> 00:52:38,760
or normies, OK, I almost feel like saying,
825
00:52:38,760 --> 00:52:40,840
"Look, I'm from the future, believe me.
826
00:52:40,840 --> 00:52:42,720
"I just got off a time machine called
827
00:52:42,720 --> 00:52:44,760
"the flight from San Francisco."
828
00:52:46,640 --> 00:52:48,480
VOICEOVER: Antonio Garcia Martinez
829
00:52:48,480 --> 00:52:53,640
was a product manager at Facebook before he quit Silicon Valley.
830
00:52:53,640 --> 00:52:56,760
I've seen what the world will look like in five to ten years.
831
00:52:56,760 --> 00:52:59,720
You may not believe it, but it's coming.
832
00:52:59,720 --> 00:53:02,040
And it's coming in the form of a self-driving truck
833
00:53:02,040 --> 00:53:03,920
that's about to run you over.
834
00:53:03,920 --> 00:53:05,360
How worried are you about this?
835
00:53:05,360 --> 00:53:07,960
Oh, horribly, why do you think I'm here?
836
00:53:07,960 --> 00:53:09,520
Why are we here?
837
00:53:09,520 --> 00:53:10,840
In the ass end of the Northwest?
838
00:53:10,840 --> 00:53:12,240
It's going to destroy the world.
839
00:53:24,320 --> 00:53:25,840
So, this is it?
840
00:53:25,840 --> 00:53:27,240
This is it.
841
00:53:27,240 --> 00:53:30,080
So this is sort of the general area, this is my utility thing over here,
842
00:53:30,080 --> 00:53:31,320
where I store a bunch of stuff.
843
00:53:31,320 --> 00:53:34,280
That's going to be the future house site that we just walked through.
844
00:53:34,280 --> 00:53:36,200
By the way, this is the throne room right here.
845
00:53:36,200 --> 00:53:37,680
Composting bucket toilet for now.
846
00:53:37,680 --> 00:53:39,720
Why did you choose this particular plot of land?
847
00:53:39,720 --> 00:53:41,320
Because nobody knows about it.
848
00:53:41,320 --> 00:53:45,680
Canada is a swim or a kayak's ride away if necessary.
849
00:53:45,680 --> 00:53:49,080
Ideal climate, big community, self-sustaining food production.
850
00:53:50,160 --> 00:53:53,920
And defensibility, in the case of things fragmenting for a while.
851
00:53:58,600 --> 00:54:02,680
The AR15, the civilian version of the M4,
852
00:54:02,680 --> 00:54:05,280
the standard issue service weapon of the US military.
853
00:54:08,240 --> 00:54:10,000
- Is it loaded?
- Well, I don't know.
854
00:54:11,360 --> 00:54:12,400
Jesus.
855
00:54:18,400 --> 00:54:22,200
If things go bad in the future, what...
856
00:54:22,200 --> 00:54:23,840
Is this going to be what you need?
857
00:54:24,960 --> 00:54:26,880
Of course. In the post-America,
858
00:54:26,880 --> 00:54:30,160
the 5.56 millimetre round will be the currency of the new America,
859
00:54:30,160 --> 00:54:31,200
I guarantee you.
860
00:54:36,480 --> 00:54:37,680
This is the tipi clearing,
861
00:54:37,680 --> 00:54:41,520
this is a traditional Lakota Sioux tipi and we're going to
862
00:54:41,520 --> 00:54:42,760
put this up today.
863
00:54:49,000 --> 00:54:51,120
Why is it wobbling so much?
864
00:54:51,120 --> 00:54:52,960
Back it up, back it up, right, right.
865
00:54:54,560 --> 00:54:56,760
You might think it's silly that I have AR15s
866
00:54:56,760 --> 00:54:57,920
and a well and solar panels,
867
00:54:57,920 --> 00:54:59,640
but what do you have in the case of a crisis?
868
00:54:59,640 --> 00:55:01,760
You're just betting that it doesn't happen, right?
869
00:55:01,760 --> 00:55:03,880
- Yeah.
- And as we used to say at Goldman Sachs,
870
00:55:03,880 --> 00:55:05,040
hope is a shitty hedge.
871
00:55:05,040 --> 00:55:07,240
You have hope, that's all you have, you have hope.
872
00:55:07,240 --> 00:55:08,440
Hope is a shitty hedge.
873
00:55:11,160 --> 00:55:12,880
OK, OK, come over towards me.
874
00:55:14,880 --> 00:55:18,120
So you think there are some people that are kind of in Silicon Valley,
875
00:55:18,120 --> 00:55:20,920
- doing this too?
- Oh, absolutely, I'm not the only one.
876
00:55:20,920 --> 00:55:25,160
- I'm not unique in any way.
- I wonder what other people in Silicon Valley
877
00:55:25,160 --> 00:55:27,240
- might be doing.
- They have their own hideaways,
878
00:55:27,240 --> 00:55:29,720
they buy land in other places and they've got a bunch of guns
879
00:55:29,720 --> 00:55:31,080
and wells and all the rest of it.
880
00:55:31,080 --> 00:55:33,200
It's kind of like this, maybe a little less rustic,
881
00:55:33,200 --> 00:55:35,400
a little less hippie, but very similar.
882
00:55:35,400 --> 00:55:38,200
But, hang on, I mean it sounds a little bit selfish...
883
00:55:39,360 --> 00:55:41,320
..because what about the rest of us?
884
00:55:41,320 --> 00:55:43,480
Life is short and we all die alone, I mean, there it is.
885
00:55:45,400 --> 00:55:49,440
Silicon Valley is unleashing the next wave of disruption,
886
00:55:49,440 --> 00:55:53,040
without knowing for sure whether the world will be made better
887
00:55:53,040 --> 00:55:54,280
as a result.
888
00:55:57,480 --> 00:55:59,880
What is at stake?
889
00:55:59,880 --> 00:56:02,320
Well, I mean, there's 300 million guns in this country,
890
00:56:02,320 --> 00:56:04,600
one for every man, woman and child, right?
891
00:56:04,600 --> 00:56:06,880
And they're mostly in the hands of those
892
00:56:06,880 --> 00:56:09,320
who are getting economically displaced.
893
00:56:09,320 --> 00:56:10,800
There could be a violent revolt.
894
00:56:20,480 --> 00:56:24,240
Why are you kind of speaking out about any of this stuff?
895
00:56:26,240 --> 00:56:27,960
Well, because it's the only real debt
896
00:56:27,960 --> 00:56:29,560
that I think technologists have.
897
00:56:29,560 --> 00:56:31,760
Not enough of them are actually speaking out
898
00:56:31,760 --> 00:56:33,600
and actually informing the general public.
899
00:56:33,600 --> 00:56:37,000
You don't realise, we are in a race between technology and politics,
900
00:56:37,000 --> 00:56:39,800
and the technologists are winning, they are way ahead.
901
00:56:39,800 --> 00:56:42,280
They will destroy jobs and disrupt economies
902
00:56:42,280 --> 00:56:43,840
way before we even react to them.
903
00:56:43,840 --> 00:56:46,280
And what we really should be thinking is about that.
904
00:56:53,840 --> 00:56:56,520
Preparing a survival plan IS extreme.
905
00:56:58,120 --> 00:57:02,080
The coming wave of disruption COULD bring great benefits.
906
00:57:03,640 --> 00:57:07,480
But there's a risk Silicon Valley's promise to build a better world
907
00:57:07,480 --> 00:57:11,000
could inflict a nightmare future on millions of us.
908
00:57:12,680 --> 00:57:18,840
Politics, in the end, has to be able to take control of this technology,
909
00:57:18,840 --> 00:57:23,280
regulate it somehow, slow it down if that's what people want,
910
00:57:23,280 --> 00:57:28,680
but make sure that the technology is being built for people,
911
00:57:28,680 --> 00:57:31,800
in a way that people want, in a way that society wants,
912
00:57:31,800 --> 00:57:33,360
and not just in the interests...
913
00:57:35,240 --> 00:57:39,800
..of the tiny number of incredibly rich people
914
00:57:39,800 --> 00:57:41,400
from the West Coast of America.
915
00:57:48,560 --> 00:57:51,920
How did Silicon Valley become so influential?
916
00:57:51,920 --> 00:57:55,000
The Open University has produced an interactive timeline
917
00:57:55,000 --> 00:57:57,280
exploring the history of this place.
918
00:57:57,280 --> 00:57:59,680
To find out more, visit...
919
00:58:03,280 --> 00:58:05,520
..and follow the links to the Open University.
73038
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