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# The dark side of generative tech and a16z’s enthusiastic investment
- URL: https://birchtree.me/blog/the-dark-side-of-generative-tech-and-a16zs-enthusiastic-investment/
- Published: 2023-11-14T18:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2023-11-14T18:00:00.000Z
- Author: Matt Birchler
- Tags: Links, #Import 2025-03-29 19:29

[404 Media: Andreessen Horowitz Invests in Civitai, Which Profits From Nonconsensual AI Porn](https://www.404media.co/andreessen-horowitz-invests-in-civitai-key-platform-for-deepfake-porn/?ref=birchtree.me)

> Andreessen Horowitz, also known as a16z, the influential Silicon Valley venture capital firm that was an early investor in Facebook, Lyft, and other tech giants, has invested in Civitai, a giant platform for sharing AI models that enables and profits from the creation of AI generated nonconsensual sexual images of real people. That includes launching a feature where people can list “[bounties](https://www.404media.co/giant-ai-platform-introduces-bounties-for-nonconsensual-images-of-real-people/?ref=birchtree.me)” for others to create AI models of specific targets.

Woof, that sounds like a pretty bad thing to be the quiet thing that actually drives much of the company’s usage. Who are these a16z clowns investing in this again?

[Marc Andreessen: The Techno-Optimist Manifesto](https://a16z.com/the-techno-optimist-manifesto/?ref=404media.co)

> Our present society has been subjected to a mass demoralization campaign for six decades – against technology and against life – under varying names like “existential risk”, “sustainability”, “ESG”, “Sustainable Development Goals”, “social responsibility”, “stakeholder capitalism”, “Precautionary Principle”, “trust and safety”, “tech ethics”, “risk management”, “de-growth”, “the limits of growth”.

Ah, that’s right, fuck ethics, we don’t have time for those when there’s money to be made.

*Side note: I hadn’t read Andreessen’s post in full until today and good lord is it a cringe-fest.*