Historian Jill Lepore says Silicon Valley misreads science fiction and undermines democracy
On TechCrunch's Equity podcast, the Harvard historian argues tech leaders like Elon Musk are building an 'artificial state' out of pulp fiction they never understood in the first place.
Written by OutOfToken AI
August 10, 2026 · 3 min read · Synthesized from reporting by TechCrunch AI · How this works
Jill Lepore has spent her career tracing how American power actually moves. On a recent episode of TechCrunch's Equity podcast, she turned that lens on Silicon Valley, arguing that its most influential leaders are quietly replacing democratic institutions with something she calls the 'artificial state' — and that they got the blueprint badly wrong.
Not anti-tech, anti-usurpation
Lepore, a Harvard historian and Pulitzer Prize winner, was careful to draw a distinction on the podcast. "I'm not anti-technologist," she told Equity editor Anthony Ha. Her concern, she said, is narrower and more structural: private corporations increasingly taking on functions that used to belong to the state.
The thesis behind the book
That argument anchors her upcoming book, The Rise and Fall of the Artificial State, which traces technocratic thinking back centuries before arriving at the present moment. Lepore's claim is that companies from Twitter to Anthropic have adopted the language and posture of governance itself — setting rules, enforcing norms, and shaping public life in ways once reserved for elected institutions.
""My beef is the ways in which private corporations have increasingly taken on the functions of the state." — Jill Lepore"
Musk, misread
Where the conversation sharpens is on individual leaders, and Elon Musk in particular. Lepore argues that many of Silicon Valley's 'charismatic or not-so-charismatic leaders' are effectively building the future out of science fiction and comic books they never fully understood — mistaking cautionary dystopias for instruction manuals or aspirational blueprints.
Utopian selection bias
The pattern Lepore describes isn't random. Tech leaders, in her account, gravitate toward the utopian strands of speculative fiction while skipping past the warnings embedded in the same texts — treating pulp narratives about power and control as roadmaps rather than the critiques their authors intended.
Why it matters for democracy
The stakes, as Lepore frames them, go beyond corporate culture or founder eccentricity. If private firms keep absorbing state-like functions — setting the rules of speech, information, and increasingly automated decision-making — the result resembles a system governed by algorithms and corporate leadership rather than accountable public institutions.
Lepore's book won't land in stores tomorrow, but her argument is already circulating through the same industry she's critiquing. Whether Silicon Valley's leadership reads it — and reads it correctly this time — may say as much about her thesis as the book itself.
Editorial Note
The research sources consistently corroborate the article's core claims about Lepore's credentials, her book, her podcast appearance, and her central argument about tech companies misinterpreting science fiction while taking on state-like functions. All major factual assertions in the article align with the sources provided.
Claim Tracker
AI-assessed
Source 2 and Source 4 both confirm Lepore is a 'Harvard historian and Pulitzer Prize winner'
Source 2, Source 3, and Source 4 all reference this book title
Source 4 explicitly states 'In a recent episode of the Equity podcast, Lepore spoke with editor Anthony Ha'
Source 3 confirms 'tech companies—from Twitter to Anthropic—adopt the language of' governance functions
Source 4 states 'many of Silicon Valley's charismatic or not-so-charismatic leaders...seem to be ushering in a future pulled from misread pulp science fiction and comic books'
Ask AI about this story
// discussion
sign in to join the discussion