Let's be a bit careful here. That quote doesn't imply that anyone has heard of SA, only that he has been helping. Sometimes people help behind the scenes. Similarly, the claim about the industry is simply that it has pivoted. I have zero idea if either claim is true, but let's at least not replace them with claims that no one made.

This is in the HN guidelines btw: "Please respond to the strongest plausible interpretation of what someone says, not a weaker one that's easier to criticize. Assume good faith." https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

The quote clearly claims he's helping the entire biotech industry, which is overstated to say the least.

Also no idea why you aren't responding to the GP instead. My post is within the the guidelines, even if you choose to disagree with its point.

I totally agree with you, and I'll add that the quote also implies that the entire industry is "pivoting" to work on this effort when, no it isn't. People who have built the ability to work on viruses or with technology that is applicable are all pitching in to do their part. And they're doing it on their own prerogative, not by the "leadership" of some silicon valley tech types. Altman and all is doing good work by funding some covid responses etc, as is YC and are other tech VCs, and talk about that to whatever extent you want. But dont take credit for what the industry is doing.

Sorry to be a stickler, especially since Eric changed his wording, but your post wasn't within that guideline. You picked a weak interpretation of the quote you were objecting to. There was no inconsistency between "My wife works in biotech in SV and has never heard of him" and what it actually said. If you wanted to refute the quote, something like "My wife works in biotech in SV and that industry has definitely not pivoted to working on covid" would (if true) have fit the bill.

You're right that the GP comment was also bad and that I could have replied there also.

I appreciate your excellent work in maintaining the discourse, but there just isn't any serious interpretation of that quote which could have been more charitable. You'd really have to stretch to get away from the clear implication that SA's work has been essential to the COVID-19 response.

I also appreciate Eric's polite clarification in this thread, but as of now the original text remains on his site. It's a legitimate point of discussion for reasons that others in this thread have explained.