Successive waves of Silicon Valley hype have washed over these billboards, and then vanished from the earth. Ten years ago, the billboards overflowed with a cacophony of messages about e-commerce, customer relations management, chatbots, the Cloud. Then there was a moment in 2020, when they fell into disuse, when Silicon Valley-the region, as opposed to Silicon Valley the set of companies-seemed unsure of itself. Work-from-home became the new watchword, and the campuses along this highway stood empty. The shock of the COVID pandemic was global, but it chipped away at this region's self-image in a very particular way.

The region, the industry, and its billboards have recovered, and today they appear more triumphant than ever. And yet, as with so much that's currently making a comeback in the United States - Trumpism, oligarchy, white supremacy - one gets the impression that this isn't a more-or-less-normal swing of the pendulum. The boom, the bubble, the power that is currently swelling in Silicon Valley, and the ruthlessness with which boom, bubble, and power are presenting themselves by the side of this road, are more or less trying to equate themselves with the fate of the country, of humanity: if our bubble bursts, you, your planet, your future is going down with us. And so the billboards symbolize the fait accompli that Silicon Valley presents us with today: systemic relevance as an all-or-nothing bet.