Welcome to Axis ProRata, where we take just 10 minutes to get you smarter on the collision of tech, business, and politics.

Sponsored by Silicon Valley Bank, Ideas Bank here. I'm Dan Permac. On today's show, Private Equity's

presidential problem and a surprise candidate to become WeWorks next CEO.

But first, blame the algorithm.

So last Thursday, a well-known Silicon Valley engineer named David Heinemeyer Hansen tweeted out that upon applying for Apple's new credit card, he was given a credit limit 20 times higher than that of his

wife. That was despite the fact that she had the better credit score and that the pair

files joint tax returns. When Heinemeyer-Hansson called Apple customer service, they basically

blame the algorithm created by card issuer Goldman Sachs. Why the algorithm did what it did or any other sort of

justification, well, that wasn't forthcoming, probably because the customer service reps simply

didn't know. Apple eventually increased her credit limit as a one-off, but the story went viral,

because in short, this situation wasn't actually a one-off. Twitter quickly became inundated with people having similar experiences. Most notably, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, who said he got offered a credit limit 10 times higher than that of his wife. And financial regulators in New York said they would open an investigation into the card and Goldman Sachs.

Why it matters is that this incident likely reflects

the biases of those who originally programmed the algorithm, and it could also be high profile

enough that other financial services companies will pay much closer attention to what they

put into their black boxes. In 15 seconds, we'll be joined by David Heinemeyer Hansen. But first,

this. This episode is brought to you by Silicon Valley Bank. Know everything about coding, but not so much about banking.

For more than 35 years, Silicon Valley Bank has been helping high growth companies navigate

through each stage of the startup journey. Stay tuned to learn more. Silicon Valley Bank. Ideas,

Bank here.

We're joined now by David Heinemeyer Hansen, co-founder and chief technology officer at Basecamp.

Let's start with where things stand now. Have you heard anything new, say, in the past 24 hours from either Apple or from Goldman Sachs? Not really. Goldman Sachs keeps putting out these more and more contrite public statements

that essentially don't resolve anything to say, we hear you, but we're not going to do anything.

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