Jeff Bezos and Slate

[Saint Alban]

I often hear/read comments about Slate and Jeff Bezos.

“Jeff Bezos is an investor in Slate Auto, an American electric vehicle startup founded in 2022 and based in Troy, Michigan. His involvement is primarily financial—Bezos participated in the company’s $111 million Series A funding round through his family office, though the exact size of his investment has not been disclosed. He is not involved in the company’s day-to-day operations or management; his role is that of a notable backer rather than an executive or founder.”

Given that, what are everyone’s conspiracy theories about this? Because I know some people think he’s running the show, going to integrate Slate with Amazon, sell parts, etc. I’m not saying I believe any of it, just curious.

 

[Adam W]

I'm continually confused why the headlines, including that new Top Gear video, continue to be "Jeff Bezos' pickup." I don't get it, are people more inclined to pay attention with the Bezos name attached? His involvement is certainly not a plus in my book.

I have a pretty low opinion of Bezos. Amazon is hugely exploitative, and their services are built on a long history of personal privacy intrusions, data collection, and the grossest kind of surveillance ad-tech tracking. I won't let an Alexa, FireTV, or Ring Doorbell anywhere near my house. Amazon is my last choice for purchases, but they've got such a stranglehold on everything that it's hard to avoid in some instances. I always seriously consider going without if they're the only place I can get something I'm shopping for.

From what we've been told, he put some money in the pot but otherwise has nothing to do with any of it. If I were to find out he has a substantial role at Slate, I would probably be out as a customer.

 

[Swinefuzz]

I'm continually confused why the headlines, including that new Top Gear video, continue to be "Jeff Bezos' pickup." I don't get it, are people more inclined to pay attention with the Bezos name attached? His involvement is certainly not a plus in my book.

I have a pretty low opinion of Bezos. Amazon is hugely exploitative, and their services are built on a long history of personal privacy intrusions, data collection, and the grossest kind of surveillance ad-tech tracking. I won't let an Alexa, FireTV, or Ring Doorbell anywhere near my house. Amazon is my last choice for purchases, but they've got such a stranglehold on everything that it's hard to avoid in some instances. I always seriously consider going without if they're the only place I can get something I'm shopping for.

From what we've been told, he put some money in the pot but otherwise has nothing to do with any of it. If I were to find out he has a substantial role at Slate, I would probably be out as a customer.

I share the concerns. I want an affordable, efficient, clean truck devoid of excess features I'll never use. I'm obsessed with the Slate because it is the opposite of modern cars and Big Auto in general. but if it turns out that Slate would be tracking and extorting me via subscription fees to use the product, then it proves that Slate ISN'T the opposite of all the things about the modern auto industry I despise. The truck's bare-bones aspects and plain appearance would only be the innocent exterior while what lies beneath is sinister and expoloitative.

It's going to be interesting to watch and see as the Slate story develops in the months ahead. If Slate Auto turns out to be the automobile version of a cheap desktop inkjet printer that requires expensive cartridges that fail long before you've used them up and shut down other features like scanning just because you haven't purchased and plugged in a new cartridge, well, then that's too bad for me. I've been burned too many times by inkjet printers and I don't buy them anymore. I won't be purchasing a truck that's the equivelant of an inkjet printer.