Welcome to the Technoprogressive

A newsletter from the new Technoprogressive Hub

This is the first in a new series of posts on advancing technoprogressive policies and worldview. This first post is from Eli Zupnick, a political and campaign communications strategist and co-founder of The Technoprogressive Hub.

Welcome to the first issue of The Technoprogressive, a newsletter we’re launching to kick off our new Technoprogressive Hub project in partnership with the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies.

William F. Buckley Jr. famously defined the role of conservatives as “standing athwart history, yelling Stop.” Progressives, on the other hand, have historically been the ones driving history forward – committed to the idea that the future could be better than the present, that science and technology could improve people’s lives dramatically, and that the government could and should play an important role in supporting and facilitating that progress and ensuring its benefits reach as many people as possible. 

This understanding has guided my career working alongside fellow progressives on campaigns, in the Senate, and now with organizations fighting for justice, equity, democracy, and accountability. I’ve always believed that government can and should be a force for improving people’s lives, and that technology and innovation are among the most powerful tools we have for building a society that is more fair, more equitable, more prosperous, more democratic, healthier, and even happier. From vaccines that save lives, to public investments in the internet that connected millions, to breakthroughs that offer hope in the fight against climate change, drugs to extend health and life, artificial intelligence, and so much more – I see technology not as something separate from the progressive project, but as central to achieving it. 

In recent years, however, I’ve seen too many progressives turn away from the forward-looking, optimistic, and hopeful vision that has defined the movement – and toward a more constrained defense of policies, programs, and institutions. Some of this is understandable; many good policies, programs, and institutions are actually under attack, and big tech companies’ concentration of wealth and power, prioritization of profit over the public good, and negative impact on our culture and democracy has rightly provoked concern and backlash. 

But whatever the reasons, the fact is that progressives – the movement that drove space moonshots and scientific research, electrification and the internet, disease eradication and genome mapping – are now often seen as technology skeptics; more focused on how technology could negatively impact jobs, equity, economic security, or democracy than on the ways it can improve them. Instead of offering optimistic visions of progress and a better future, far too many progressives have adopted a defensive worldview that struggles to offer hope, inspiration, or motivation. 

This dynamic was clear in the recent presidential election. President Trump – with the backing of the richest tech billionaire in the world – rhetorically embraced space exploration, AI, and quantum computing, while promising to unleash innovation and job creation by “unshackling” big tech companies. While we're already seeing this facade crumble as President Trump cuts federal research funding, fires scientists, embraces protectionist tariffs, and makes controversial appointments like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead our health agencies – it should ring alarm bells that the conservative was able to pitch himself as the candidate “who articulates an affirmative vision for the future” while the progressive was seen, not fully incorrectly, as the candidate of the status quo. 

Democrats might win in 2026 and 2028 simply by opposing Trump's authoritarianism and incompetence. However, I believe progressives should use this time to reclaim the mantle of the future by championing a bold, inspiring vision that addresses today's challenges while giving people genuine hope, purpose, and possibility for tomorrow. 

That’s where the Technoprogressive Hub comes in. The theory driving this project is simple: the future will be shaped in large part by technology, and if progressives don't articulate a compelling and optimistic vision for how that technology can serve the many, we risk ceding the narrative – and ultimately, political power – to those with a far different agenda. 

Before I go further, let me explain what we mean by “technoprogressive.”

Technoprogressive - what’s that? 

Technoprogressives are politically progressive and techno-optimistic. We believe that technology can help offer humanity a truly incredible future of economic abundance, cheap and clean energy, healthier and longer lives, liberation from terrible or unsafe jobs, solutions to our most intractable problems, and new and unimagined possibilities for human freedom, governance, community, creativity, and flourishing.

But unlike techno-accelerationists on the right, we also believe that technological progress isn’t inevitable, nor will it inevitably be safe, beneficial, freedom-enhancing, or equitably distributed. We believe that governments can and must play a positive role in driving, supporting, and guiding technologies. And we believe that when it comes to issues this important, decisions should be made for the benefit of all and with the input of as many as possible, and not simply left to the big tech companies or their wealthy and well-connected allies. 

In other words, technoprogressives believe that the path to an equitable, prosperous, happy, meaningful, and progressive future runs through and with technological innovation, not around or despite it. And we believe that this perspective aligns with what it truly means to be a progressive. 

The Technoprogressive Hub 

So where does this project come in?

If you believe that technological advancement will inevitably bring massive benefits that will accrue to all of humanity, and that the best thing that the government and others can do is get out of the way while technology and those developing them accelerate us to utopia – your perspective is well-represented in Washington, DC and across the national political conversation, and is well-funded by big technology companies hoping to avoid scrutiny and regulation. 

If you view technological progress with deep skepticism and believe that the government should focus on limiting or blocking technologies that threaten jobs, equity, economic security, democracy, or traditional gender roles or sexual mores – you too will have no problem finding politicians and others speaking for you in and out of the halls of power. 

If you are a technoprogressive, however, you don’t have a natural political home outside of research and academic institutions, and you have very few voices bringing your perspectives and worldview into the halls of power. 

In recent years we’ve seen some hopeful movement. Leaders like Rep. Ro Khanna and Sen. Cory Booker are calling for a more future-oriented, innovation-driven progressivism. Writers like Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson are helping to shape an “abundance agenda” (or “supply side progressivism,” or “liberalism that builds”). The YIMBY movement has emerged as a powerful voice for building more housing and infrastructure. Eco-modernist thinkers and advocates – like those behind the Breakthrough Institute – are working to reframe environmentalism around technological optimism by supporting nuclear energy, dense urbanism, and climate tech as tools for both prosperity and sustainability. 

While I applaud these efforts and agree with many of their perspectives and policy prescriptions, most of this work has been policy-focused and intellectually adjacent to the political center. And space remains for efforts to shift the movement away from being overly cautious, defensiven, and reflexively anti-technology, and toward a bolder, more hopeful, more future-oriented technoprogressive politics that sees innovation as essential to equity, justice, and human flourishing.

The Technoprogressive Hub is designed to help address that gap – not as a think tank, but as a coalition-building and communications bridge between ideas and power. We will complement the work being done by think tanks like the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies (IEET) and others and serve as a pipeline into Washington, DC and a political center of gravity for advancing technoprogressive ideas and worldview. 

The new organization is coming together with the following initial goals: 

• Shifting progressives and the ideological left away from techno-pessimism and toward a techno-optimistic, hopeful, and future-oriented worldview;

• Inserting and advancing technoprogressive ideas and policies into the political conversation;

• Pushing back on degrowth, libertarian accelerationist, and other opposing perspectives in the media and through other communications channels;

• Educating policymakers, politicians, and those who influence them about the technoprogressive worldview and policy agenda; and

• Serving as a center of gravity for, and expanding the network of, technoprogressives engaged in national politics;

We’re kicking this work off with this newsletter – a space for us working directly on the project, as well as others, to contribute their thoughts on the technoprogressive agenda generally, or more specific policies viewed through a technoprogressive lens. 

While our primary focus is on federal policy in the United States, we see this project as an opportunity for technoprogressives here and around the world to reflect on how our policy orientation is reflected in their local debates. Eventually all countries will face the same choices about how to build, regulate and distribute emerging technologies.

Initially, The Technoprogressive Hub will be housed within the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies (IEET). We plan to spin off into a separate entity at some point in the near future as we get off the ground. 

If you know of anyone who might be interested in this work, please forward this email to them.

If you have any interest in contributing to a future issue of this newsletter, please email me at technoprogressives@proton.me.

If you want to donate or help us get this work off the ground some other way, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

And finally, James and I will be discussing the new project on a Zoom Webinar on Saturday, May 31st, at 12pm ET/9am PT. You can register for that here – and feel free to share with anyone you think might be interested.