What is Silicon Valley’s ‘whisper network’? Private list shared among women names ‘over 100’ alleged sexual predators, including ‘prominent investors and businessmen’

A private spreadsheet that contains the names of “over a hundred” alleged sexual predators in Silicon Valley is being shared among women in California's tech hub. According to a September 24 report by the New York Post, the document is not public and is being closely guarded.

The list works as an underground “whisper network” for women to identify and steer away from influential investors and businessmen accused of drugging, assault, and rape. It contains allegations involving people connected to major tech and AI companies and is shared informally, particularly among women who attend social events and “hacker house” gatherings.

A private warning network against ‘tech predators’

Several women told the outlet that they learned about the spreadsheet containing names of “prominent investors and businessmen” through an informal “whisper network” in Silicon Valley. “Some of them were very prominent names, you know? People who were famous investors. Businessmen who were in the scene, I had seen them at parties before,” one tech worker told the newspaper.

Another woman, who is in her 20’s, said she was invited to the group to add her own account to the document, and said that the network has hundreds of cases.

“I met some women who ran the ‘whisper network,’ it has hundreds of cases,” she told the Post. “I only found out about it because I started asking around.”

The women also said some victims are reluctant to report alleged assaults to police because they fear professional retaliation or damage to their careers from powerful tech elites.

“I was worried that if I tried for justice in my case and I lost, I would be blacklisted from every investor in town,” one woman said.

Allegations linked to tech communities

In one case involving Yehong Zhu, the founder of app Zette, who lived in many of these so called hacker houses, was a victim of rape and assault, she reported it to police in December 2021. Zhu said the person she accused had been a member of the San Francisco hacker house Genesis, whom she considered a ‘friend.’

She said she was discouraged from going to police by a house organizer and eventually struggled to get any help locating the man she accused.

“We invested together. We did business together,” Zhu said of people who did not respond to her requests for help.

The ‘hacker house’ culture in the spotlight

The reporting and circulation of the list comes amid scrutiny of the party culture in parts of the AI industry. The New York Times recently reported on multiple allegations of sexual harassment and rape linked to so-called “hacker houses.” These are large homes where groups of young tech workers, entrepreneurs, and developers live and invest together, often while working on startups or pursuing careers in the tech industry. Some of these houses have also become places for frequent parties and social gatherings.