Same Reality, Different Worlds: What DC and Silicon Valley Still Don’t See About Each Other

From Palo Alto to Pennsylvania Avenue, the same tech revolution looks radically different depending on where you're standing. And that disconnect is becoming dangerous.

I spent last week in Silicon Valley, immersed in conversations with builders, strategists, and AI companies moving at full speed toward a new future. It was invigorating, imaginative, sometimes overwhelming, and deeply revealing.

Because over and over again, I was struck by just how differently people on the West Coast are seeing the world compared to those in Washington, D.C.

We’re looking at the same reality—same policies, same platforms, same AI breakthroughs—but we’re interpreting them through wildly different lenses. In DC, tech is a political force to be feared, managed, or regulated. In Silicon Valley, DC is mostly seen as a distant nuisance—something to deal with later, if at all.

When I mentioned to a few folks at AI companies that the Take It Down Act was about to pass the House that day and be signed into law by Trump, they weren’t aware. They hadn’t heard the latest developments. It was a moment that said more than any op-ed or panel could: we’re not just operating in different geographies—we’re living in different realities.

Politics Is the Terrain Now—Even If You’re Not Watching

There’s a growing narrative in Washington that “little tech” is finally showing up, countering big tech, fighting for innovation, pushing back against regulation. But that narrative is mostly being shaped by a few loud players—think Andreessen and Y Combinator—not necessarily by the broader base of small and mid-sized companies that supposedly make up this movement.

In truth, most of the smaller companies I talked to last week hadn’t paid much attention to who represented them in DC. And unless policymakers and regulators were already knocking on their door, they weren’t paying attention.

That’s a dangerous blind spot. As Stratechery’s Ben Thompson reminds us in his recent piece, American Disruption, we’ve entered Internet 3.0: the political era of tech. Governments are no longer just regulators—they’re players, shaping the playing field. Companies that don’t understand the rules risk being sidelined by them.

From Washington’s perspective, tech is everywhere, transforming speech, elections, labor, and identity. But in Silicon Valley? Many still see DC as a footnote. That’s not sustainable.

Meta’s AI Shift: Advertising Without the Advertiser

Take Meta’s most recent earnings call and Mark Zuckerberg’s Stratechery interview. What he laid out wasn’t just a roadmap—it was a full-blown redefinition of what it means to advertise, create, and connect online.

“Our goal is to make it so that any business can basically tell us what objective they're trying to achieve... and then we just do the rest.”

Let’s be clear: the algorithm is no longer just curating our content—it’s creating it. That shift will change marketing more than cookies ever did.

For legacy brands and agencies, this still feels like a bridge too far. But for entrepreneurs and side hustlers? It’s already game on. I could spin up a Panic Responsibly shirt, give Meta a target and a budget, and it could do everything else: generate the ad, find the audience, deliver the conversion.

But this isn’t just about convenience. It’s about control. And if you’re not thinking deeply about what it means when your brand is shaped by a machine you can’t audit, you’re not ready for what’s coming.

The AI Economy of Time and Culture

Zuckerberg’s bigger bet is even bolder: that AI-driven productivity will unlock a massive shift in how people spend their time—and that Meta’s platforms will be the beneficiaries.

“As productivity grows, the average person spends less time working and more time on entertainment and culture… These channels where people are getting their content are going to become more of what people spend their time on.”

In other words, as AI handles more tasks, people will scroll more, share more, buy more—and increasingly rely on AI to make decisions for them, whether in shopping, creativity, or even self-expression.

What’s happening isn’t just a tech evolution—it’s a societal rewiring. From Washington, that looks like risk. From Silicon Valley, it looks like opportunity. In truth, it’s both.

Why I’m Rebuilding My Business, Too

This tension isn’t theoretical for me. As someone who’s spent the last 15 years at the intersection of tech and democracy, I’ve sat inside the rooms where major platform decisions were made—and I now help clients navigate the consequences.

That experience has taught me one thing: the map is constantly shifting, and most people are following directions to places that no longer exist.

So I’m restructuring how I work: offering low-, mid-, and high-tier services. Building tools that meet people where they are now, not where I wish they were. Keeping ideas on deck for when the moment pivots. Because it always does.

In San Francisco, I feel pulled forward—into a future that’s arriving faster than most people realize. In DC, I’m often pulling others along—translating what’s already changed. But whether you’re leading or catching up, you still have to see clearly.

And that’s the real problem: right now, neither coast fully sees the other.

If You Can't See It, You Can't Shape It

We’re all looking into the same mirror—but what we see depends on where we stand.

In DC, AI looks like a threat. In SF, it looks like a tool. In reality, it’s both—and more. And if we don’t start seeing each other’s perspectives more clearly, we’re going to keep mistaking partial views for the whole truth.

As AI accelerates, that assumption becomes more costly. Policy, technology, and culture are no longer separate domains. They’re deeply intertwined. If we want to shape this next era wisely, we need more than headlines or hot takes. We need shared situational awareness.

Because whether you’re in a D.C. conference room or a Palo Alto co-working space, one thing is certain: what you don’t know can hurt you.

And in 2025, there’s a lot we still don’t know.