This essay, set in 2026, explores the peculiar social phenomena of Silicon Valley and the new class of 'highly agentic' people. Through the cases of controversial startup Cluely's co-founder Roy Lee, young entrepreneur Eric Zhu, and the figure of Donald Boat who gains attention through online chaos, it examines how artificial intelligence and human agency interact in modern society. The author critically analyzes the bizarre reality of San Francisco's advertising (focused entirely on B2B services for startups rather than ordinary consumers), the evolving meaning of agency in the AI era, and the distinctive values and behaviors of this generation's young leaders.

1. San Francisco: A City of Bizarre Advertising

Upon arriving in San Francisco, the most striking thing was the street advertisements. Unlike New York's ads targeting average twenty-something workers, San Francisco's were different -- all aggressive and arcane, targeting people who wanted some kind of esoteric B2B service for startups. The ads seemed to scream: "You're not a passive consumer -- you're building something." But these slogans felt disconnected from the city's actual residents -- people huddled on the ground staring into space, empty Waymo self-driving cars whooshing past, everything blending together until advertising and a madman's mutterings became indistinguishable.

2. Cluely and Roy Lee at the Center of Controversy

One startup's ads made even San Francisco residents cringe: Cluely, arguably the most hated startup in the entire tech industry. Their ads were oddly straightforward:

"Hi, my name is Roy. I got kicked out of school for cheating. Buy my cheating tool. cluely.com"

Cluely's product was essentially a crude, error-prone interface for ChatGPT and other AI models -- mainly used by thirty-something professionals for email, Zoom meetings, and sales calls. The backlash seemed somewhat hypocritical given how many tech workers already used ChatGPT for similar purposes.

3. The New Class: The Rise of 'Agency'

Roy Lee belonged to a new surplus class. In Silicon Valley, the prevailing belief was that some people would gain enormous wealth and power in the AI era while many others would become useless. The skill for escaping this new underclass was different from before -- intelligence, ability, and expertise now mattered far less. The future belongs to people with specific personality traits and psychological drives. AI can code faster than humans, but humans retain one advantage: agency -- the trait of being highly agentic. Highly agentic people don't wait for permission, bulldoze obstacles, and just get things done. AI can't replicate the hunger that comes from uncomfortable childhood experiences. Agency has become Silicon Valley's most valuable asset.

4. Roy Lee's Success Mythology and AI Supremacism

Roy Lee built his mythology quickly. As a Columbia undergrad using AI for nearly every assignment (including his admissions essay), he went to school not to learn but to find a startup co-founder. He and Neel Shanmugam founded Interview Coder -- a tool for cheating on LeetCode-style tech interview problems. He filmed himself using the tool during an Amazon internship interview, got an offer, rejected it, and posted the video on YouTube to instant fame. After suspension and withdrawal from Columbia, he upgraded to Cluely, moved to San Francisco, and raised tens of millions in venture capital.

His viral ad showed him wearing Cluely-equipped glasses on a date, with AI analyzing his date and feeding him responses in real time. The accompanying manifesto declared: "We built Cluely so you never have to think alone again... The future won't reward effort. It will reward leverage."

5. Inside Cluely's Office and Roy's Values

Cluely's office featured foam rubber costume boxes (Sonic, Olaf, Pikachu) -- making viral videos was a significant part of working there. The meeting the author observed lasted seconds: "Let's remove the chat bar on the left." There was no second item. Roy's kitchen was stocked with Core Power Elite protein drinks and Labubu dolls ("aesthetics -- girls like Labubu"). His bedroom was inside the office where many employees lived. When asked about his minimalism: "I value minimalism very much. No wait, I don't. I just don't care about interior design." When the author asked to run Cluely during their interview, the product crashed, requiring 15 minutes of frantic repairs before crashing again.