Alex Shultz

Journalist, Hard Reset co-author, pickup basketball enthusiast

Formerly: SFGATE, GQ.

Email: [email protected]. Signal: ajshultz.13

[Alex Shultz @AlexShultz]

it is kind of heartening to me that there are Biden dead-enders lighting up my replies. I just got baited into my first twitter argument in like five years. remembering better days on here

[Alex Shultz @AlexShultz]

Seems like People is the Bidens' preferred media outlet when they want to get ahead of an unflattering news cycle

[Alex Shultz @AlexShultz]

@CentristMadness I'll be more explicit, since you're being dense: Biden knew People would give him favorable coverage and not follow up about how, for instance, his debate w/Trump "was not very consequential" (his words). Similar reflections in his memoir are going to be scrutinized and panned

[Alex Shultz @AlexShultz]

@CentristMadness you are welcome to feel that way! it's not how the world works, but it's a nice thought

[Alex Shultz @AlexShultz]

@CentristMadness yes? that's not how my brain works that's how public relations works. politicians secure softball interviews to help publicize their memoirs before the rest of the public (and book reviewers) read the whole thing

[Alex Shultz @AlexShultz]

@BillClintStan got it, thank you bill clinton stan fan account

[Alex Shultz @AlexShultz]

Seems like People is the Bidens' preferred media outlet when they want to get ahead of an unflattering news cycle

[People @people]

Joe Biden, in His Only New Interview, Goes on Camera with PEOPLE to Talk About Everything (Exclusive) https://t.co/DtXo9mnWqq

[Alex Shultz @AlexShultz]

@CentristMadness @daveweigel I just replied to you -- he is publishing a memoir about his unpopular presidency. The contents of his memoir are newsworthy, and some of those contents will be received poorly.

[Alex Shultz @AlexShultz]

@CentristMadness his presidential memoir is going to start a news cycle, and it will be unflattering.

[Alex Shultz @AlexShultz]

did not see @bigblackjacobin's post until now but am glad I am not alone on this, was feeling insane reading the reactions this morning

https://t.co/kbU9kMN4Qq

[Edward Ongweso Jr @bigblackjacobin]

Karp is just delusional. He calls himself a neo-Marxist, but also calls the AI labs Marxist when disagreeing with them. He calls himself the last progressive, but also spent the past few years criticizing progressives as feckless and anti-warrior class. This is in line with that.

[Alex Shultz @AlexShultz]

Alex Karp has been doing this "I'm a progressive with esoteric views" shtick for years. Even here he says DSA likes to "gaslight Jews and segregate Blacks." He's not pivoting left or offering an olive branch. (Not that it'd matter if Palantir's CEO *was* offering an olive branch)

[Politics & Poll Tracker 📡 @PollTracker2024]

Politico: The Tech Right Pivots Left

Nowhere is that hard pivot more on display than with Alex Karp, the CEO and co-founder of secretive tech giant Palantir, which bet massively on Trump 2.0 and became an administration darling in the process

Inside Palantir’s Manhattan lair, in an exclusive sitdown with Playbook, Karp — who once criticized the Democratic Party as “totally irresponsible” — deployed the word ‘progressive’ eight times to describe his philosophy while acknowledging Democrats ‘absolutely’ corrected in 2026 enough to win back his support in 2028.

Karp: “I’ve been a Democrat my whole life. I grew up in a far left environment. I know more about being a progressive than almost anybody on the planet, and I absolutely believe Palantir— all of our products are essentially progressive.”

Link to article: https://t.co/hYUgQk6q2W

[Alex Shultz @AlexShultz]

Los Angeles Clippers fans with Nvidia stock are having a panic attack

[The New York Times @nytimes]

Breaking News: Nvidia has hired the law firm Wachtell Lipton to help lead an investigation into its CEO and co-founder, Jensen Huang. https://t.co/gcFqS6el8X

[Alex Shultz @AlexShultz]

I answered this question last week, you are welcome

[Fox News Opinion @FoxNewsOpinion]

Democrats just pulled off a political earthquake on Tuesday, but the blue tsunami creates a problem the party isn't ready to talk about: what happens to John Fetterman?

The Pennsylvania senator has become the most vocal moderate in the caucus, replacing Joe Manchin and Kirsten Sinema as the Democrat most willing to break ranks on immigration enforcement, support for Israel, and government shutdowns. That worked fine when Democrats were in the minority. Now that Chuck Schumer controls the Senate with a comfortable margin, Fetterman's maverick streak isn't charming anymore. It's a liability.

Here's the twist: Fetterman is currently more popular with Pennsylvania Republicans than with Democrats in his own state, making his 2028 reelection as a Democrat look increasingly remote.

Full story here https://t.co/4D9uik6Tov

[Alex Shultz @AlexShultz]

Interesting tidbit in this report: Heller, the crisis comms firm working with Huang, was founded by a former press secretary for Chuck Schumer. And Nvidia's current head of public policy comms, John Rizzo, previously worked as...Chuck Schumer's deputy comms director

[WIRED @WIRED]

SCOOP: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang began working with a crisis communications firm known for handling public scandals a year before admitting to an extramarital affair with a woman suspected by US intelligence of being a Chinese spy. https://t.co/Ce23ABdiS7

[Shakeel @ShakeelHashim]

Note that Nvidia’s spokesman John Rizzo has put out multiple statements in recent weeks that we now know are false. Unclear, of course, if he believed them to be true at the time.

[Alex Shultz @AlexShultz]

stunning to watch Meta spin its secretive data center deal in Louisiana—an arrangement exposed by NYT—as a blueprint for getting community buy-in. Greg Brockman, meanwhile, claimed OpenAI simply needs to better explain all the benefits of AI/data centers

https://t.co/G4jpMaxth0

[Alex Shultz @AlexShultz]

there was also this, from 2018

[Jonathan Allen @alldspeed]

CHS was a lifelong Democrat until Barack Obama became president, when she became "extremely concerned" about the "political landscape" and switched parties.

Before her 11-year tenure as a Democratic state legislator, CHS was a lobbyist who advocated for universal healthcare.

[Alex Shultz @AlexShultz]

just to clarify: A top CBS News flack cold-emailed me b/c I posted a critique of The Free Press. I wasn't chasing a story or anything. I responded to his email (he sent links to Reingold's ChatGPT defense) by quoting what Vanity Fair actually reported. Never heard back.

[Alex Shultz @AlexShultz]

CBS News SVP of Comms emailed me a link to Olivia Reingold's latest posts, where she says she used ChatGPT to "brighten and sharpen an image of a woman in Valentino shoes and a Chanel bag."

I followed up to ask for comment on Vanity Fair's reporting and will update accordingly

[Alex Shultz @AlexShultz]

@ShadrachNorth yes -- they cold-emailed me because of my original post criticizing her

[Alex Shultz @AlexShultz]

CBS News SVP of Comms emailed me a link to Olivia Reingold's latest posts, where she says she used ChatGPT to "brighten and sharpen an image of a woman in Valentino shoes and a Chanel bag."

I followed up to ask for comment on Vanity Fair's reporting and will update accordingly

[Alex Shultz @AlexShultz]

a reporter posting an AI-generated image of a political event that they're covering would get them insta-fired from almost every outlet. *Almost* every outlet.

Gonna guess that does not apply to the publication that did a glowing profile of AI actress Tilly Norwood.

[Alex Shultz @AlexShultz]

@JSweetLI that or they've decided on a blanket/vague defense of their reporter (or both). Hoping they write back