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This week , Silicon Valley came barrel into Washington , D.C. , in the form of new - faced railroad engineer supposedly running the authorities . Abombshell Wired reportsaid that Elon Musk had restfully selected at least six engineers , the oldest of which is reportedly 24 , to help him run his Department of Government Efficiency ( DOGE ) .
The secrecy of the group , as well as the inexperience of the identify six , drew ire from the Washington establishment . “The American people will not stand for an unelected secret group to range rearing through the executive branch , ” Senate Minority LeaderChuck Schumersaid on Tuesday .
But mostly , it has engender six new mysteries . Since the engineers are all reportedly under the age of 25 , their digital footprints are modified , and , in true Muskian manner , most have shun any medium . Musk has even said that publically naming these menwas “ a crime,”amounting to doxxing . So the country has been pull up stakes to wonder who these new mass are and what motivates them .
In late 2023 , I spent an minute verbalize to one of these newly crowned powerbroker : Luke Farritor , a then-21 - year - old “ run - of - the - grinder calculator scientific discipline major ” at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln working on the Vesuvius Challenge . That ’s an attempt spearheaded by AI investor Nat Friedman to use AI to decode ancient ringlet . Farritor , a Thiel Fellow , was like many young men in the Peter Thiel - verse line : polite ( he referred to me as “ ma’am ” ) , prostrate to tangent about bypast civilizations , and institutionalize to technology above all .
Our conversation was in the first place about the Vesuvius Challenge , so I did n’t ask , say , what methods he would use to dismantle the Union government should he be phone upon to do so in the future . But Farritor did emphasize that the project render him the power of coding — how technology enabled him to solve a problem that had stump expert for decennium . “ Even if you ’re just some scrubby kid from Nebraska , you may work hard and make an shock , ” he said .
“We’re here to help”
When Farritor fall in SpaceX in former 2023 , as an intern solve on the Starship launching tablet package , he was follow in his father ’s footstep . His dad , Shane Farritor , is a prof of mechanical engine room at University of Nebraska - Lincoln and co - founder of surgical robotics company Virtual Incision . Farritor divvy up his father ’s warmth for technology , working long hr to help facilitate Starship launches . “ I just worked super hard night and mean solar day for all seven month , ” Farritor said of his internship , describing it as “ a ton of sport . ”
One twenty-four hours on the drive to workplace , he hear Friedman on Dwarkesh Patel ’s podcast , distinguish the mystery of the Vesuvius curl : papyrus documents swallow in A.D. 79 by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius . The scrolls looked like blocks of oxford gray , but Friedman and a fistful of professors trust that , with three-D molding and AI technology , someone could read them . He offered one C of thousands of dollars to anyone who win .
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Farritor had read Latin and was fascinated by ancient civilisation . “ I always understand about archeology produce up , and it ’s like , wow , now I get to in reality be ask in a project with Richard Janko , ” he call up , referring to the classic scholar who was a judge for the Vesuvius Challenge .
After heed to the podcast , Farritor went home to his Texas apartment and started working , make package that could discover patterns on the charred newspaper that would correlate to letters . He went as far as wee his own test coil , buying up papyrus from Amazon and burning it in the oven of his father ’s robotics society .
Friedman announced some of the Johnny Cash prize recipients on a livestream — right before a spaceship launch where Farritor ’s occupation was to check all 60 - something computers in Mission Control . “ I have this very distinct memory where in my left hand I ’m holding this livestream of Nat talking , ” he said . “ And then , with my right paw , I ’m give out from computer to computer , ferment on each matter in Mission Control . ”
Farritor and his friends would finally take home the grand dirty money of $ 700,000 , which Farritor secernate me he ’d habituate to pay off his parent ’ mortgage , “ buy the new iPhone , ” and probably put the sleep into “ starting a companionship . ”
His design back then were a far war cry from his current gig , where Wired describe he has a governing email and access code to the physical office at the General Services Administration .
But his clock time at the Vesuvius Challenge did let in ravel - atomic number 49 with the university establishment . He described the Vesuvius Challenge organizers edge heads with the university bureaucracy as they attempt to get at certain mellow - tech scanners . His aspect as to why the team should get the memory access they want : They were trying to assist .
“ Yes , we ’re a bunch of Silicon Valley technical school bros , but we ’re here to help and kind of build all that goodwill , ” he pronounce of the project ’s university dealings . “ It ’s a very touchy proportionality , right ? multitude are very complicated creatures . ”
