Comment by nvm0n2

I mean sure I thought it was well understood too, but the article opens with:

"Today’s Silicon Valley billionaires grew up reading classic American science fiction. Now they’re trying to make it come true, embodying a dangerous political outlook."

So the author seems to think that tech billionaires do actually sit down and ask how to make Star Trek real.

People being generically inspired by science and technology can happen in many ways. Like, is Musk primarily inspired by sci fi, making money, a love of business, a love of engineering, politics .... you can't really separate out the different factors like Stross wants to do.