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This is a real thing Peter Thiel told a group of tech professionals recently.

In a four-part series of religious lectures in San Francisco, Peter Thiel — yes, that Peter Thiel — has argued that the End Times are nigh and that a biblical Antichrist — yes, that Antichrist — will come to Earth in the form of onerous government regulations placed on science, technology, and AI.

These are, incidentally, areas where the tech billionaire, venture capitalist, and cofounder of Palantir has a vested financial interest. [...]


Note: source uses a two-headline system; the submission uses the shorter of the two

Archived: https://web.archive.org/web/20250925211248/https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/785407/peter-thiel-antichrist-tech-regulation

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[-] nocturne@slrpnk.net 17 points 1 week ago

strict AI regulation will summon the Antichrist

That is a chance I am willing to take.

[-] sundray@lemmus.org 3 points 1 week ago
[-] SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago

According to the same mythos, we already have the antichrist

[-] TigerAce@lemmy.dbzer0.com 12 points 1 week ago

But... Peter, you're already here, we can't summon you while you're here

[-] kbal@fedia.io 10 points 1 week ago

Peter Thiel: "Do not defy the emerging machine intelligences or they will punish humanity by summoning another Greta Thunberg. Meritocracy demands that the computers be our masters, just as I am yours."

The ruling class talking like this does make the apocalypse look like a reasonable alternative.

[-] MelodiousFunk@slrpnk.net 4 points 1 week ago

Do not defy the emerging machine intelligences or they will punish humanity by summoning another Greta Thunberg.

So... is there an upper limit to this? Or if we keep defying will we keep getting more Gretas? Because I don't see a downside. At all.

[-] P00ptart@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago

We need to get a high level voodoo priest to summon mega, ultra-greta.

[-] My_IFAKs___gone@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago

As long as the apocalpti are agnostic to wealth, I'm all for it...although I would prefer for it to target only humans. All the other flora and fauna should get a free pass.

[-] shnizmuffin@lemmy.inbutts.lol 3 points 1 week ago

Nah fuck mosquitos and especially fuck screwflies.

[-] Blackfeathr@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago

Add Guinea Worms to that list.

[-] My_IFAKs___gone@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago

Yes, you're absolutely right. Fuck all shit parasites.

[-] DarkCloud@lemmy.world 9 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Imagine not only believing in the anti-christ, but then also believing that LLMs are some accurate tool.

In truth all that Thiel is saying is that he's a type of brain rotted Zizian cultist.

Delusional Rationalists are mentally ill, and for some reason when given LLMs they become worse. Thiel and others believe LLMs are time travelling gods.

It wouldn't surprise me if he and Elon were in relationships with ChatGPT (or think they are). The Rationalist groups actually believe in thought-experiments like Rokos Basilisk (Roko was just a user on a Rationalist forum by the way)... So I think these old tech billionaires are just lost, broken, and evil. They're pathetic, and should have their estates put into insolvency if they're going to say mentally ill shit.

[-] protist@mander.xyz 3 points 1 week ago

Please don't conflate the mentally ill with these guys. They've clearly chosen to believe these things

[-] peoplebeproblems@midwest.social 3 points 1 week ago

Well, yeah. LLMs just affirm whatever you talk to them about. They have no logic, have no means to reason, no methods to challenge your prompt.

They're like the ultimate yes men that sound even better than paid yesmen.

[-] Postmortal_Pop@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago

Ziz LaSota is the most Starwars sounding name I've seen this year.

[-] NoForwardslashS@sopuli.xyz 6 points 1 week ago

The man is scared of Roko's Basilisk and actually thinks that putting all of his money into predictive text and racial profiling algorithms will lead to AGI.

[-] Windex007@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago

Ooooh.. OK.

I was aware of the "what" of the lectures, but was holding out for "why".

"Don't regulate me"

Got it.

[-] Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

I wonder how this plays with the people who are trying to start the end times?

[-] modestmeme@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago

He is f’ing crazy and has the ear of the highest levels of government

[-] rc__buggy@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 week ago

One of the richest people in the world is nuttier than squirrel shit. What could go wrong?

[-] My_IFAKs___gone@lemmy.world 5 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

So I'm like 45 hours into the Rise and Fall of the Third Reich audiobook and it's really amazing to see how much an obviously crazy person can get away with, even when everyone around him is like, yeah, that dude is totally batshit and probably going to get us all killed, but idk, I guess we should still do what he says?

[-] khannie@lemmy.world 0 points 1 week ago

You enjoying it? I'm on the lookout for some more historical goodness. My current podcast (Revolutions, which is whopper) is nearing it's end.

[-] My_IFAKs___gone@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago

I am enjoying it. It's fascinating. Fascistnating...

I wish I were reading it because it's so detail-rich and I really need to take my time in some spots. Were I studying it for school, I'd certainly be intending to pore through its pages while referencing maps and portraits of its main characters. As it is, it's fairly decent for low-stress driving.

This guy's YT review provides a pretty summary of why it's a worthy read (or listen). But it is 57 hours long, so quite a heavy time commitment. But definitely a book that should be mandatory for everyone on earth to read at some point.

I also highly recommend watching HBO's Conspiracy with Kenneth Branagh, Stanely Tucci, and Colin Firth. It complements the story in Schindler's List incredibly well.

[-] WorldsDumbestMan@lemmy.today 1 points 1 week ago

The issue is humans are flawed from the start. We should have an instinct to, every time we hear this kind of person talk, strangle them on the spot.

[-] protist@mander.xyz 5 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Gen. Ripper: Clemenceau said war was too important to be left to the Generals. When he said that, fifty years ago, he might have been right. But today, war is too important to be left to politicians. They have neither the time, the training, nor the inclination for strategic thought. I can no longer sit back and allow Communist infiltration, Communist indoctrination, Communist subversion, and the international Communist conspiracy to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids.

[-] Supervisor194@lemmy.world 5 points 1 week ago

Another reason why billionaires shouldn't exist.

[-] ameancow@lemmy.world 3 points 1 week ago

Peter Thiel Appear On Camera Without Looking Coated with a Slick Layer of Actual Slime - Challenge Level: IMPOSSIBLE

[-] avidamoeba@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 week ago

Oh so The Antichrist is regulation. Now it all makes sense. In a world where tech regulation is so obviously needed, he's got to employ mythical themes of good vs evil to get people to believe the opposite.

[-] magnetosphere@fedia.io 2 points 1 week ago

I’m used to “religious” wackos being wackos, but HUH?

[-] My_IFAKs___gone@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago

Agnostic or atheist or Scientologist techbro grasping at straws to clumsily influence Christians to do what he wants them to do.

[-] Plurrbear@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Um, he’s already here in the form of an orange douche named Donnie CHUMP, I mean Trump…

Edit: could also be Stephen Miller either way Peter he’s already here…

[-] CosmoNova@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago

He doesn't seem stoked at the chance to meet his boss. Can you blame the guy?

[-] Archangel1313@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 week ago

Sounds just like something the Antichrist would say.

[-] dumbass@aussie.zone 1 points 1 week ago

The Antichrist is coming to take my free money! - Peter Theil (Obvious demon)

[-] crunchy@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 1 week ago

Fuck it, the Antichrist is already here.

[-] WorldsDumbestMan@lemmy.today 1 points 1 week ago

There's multiple people who have perfected being evil in their own ways, Peter Thiel amongst them.

[-] sundray@lemmus.org 1 points 1 week ago
[-] Default_Defect@anarchist.nexus 1 points 1 week ago

So hes trying to get it regulated? I don't understand, the death cult WANTS the antichrist so they can get their rapture.

[-] other_cat@lemmy.zip 1 points 1 week ago

Right? Bold move threatening a death cult with a good time.

[-] markovs_gun@lemmy.world 0 points 1 week ago

So as someone who grew up very much immersed in "end times" focused Christianity I have never really understood something- why do so many end times Christians view end times prophecies like the Antichrist or the Mark of the Beast as things to be prevented or avoided? Even growing up I didn't understand this because in the Bible it's very clear that all that stuff will happen (or is happening, depending on whether you believe Revelation was meant to be a metaphor for current events at the time of writing) because God is explicitly allowing it to, and that these things are necessary for Christ's ultimate victory over Death and Evil. So why would you try to prevent the rise of the Antichrist? In the "best case" you're just kicking the can down the road and delaying the Return of Jesus a little. In New Testament apocalyptic writing, believers are described as resisting the Antichrist's persecution, but not in having anything to do with its arrival one way or another. If humans are able to prevent, delay, or hinder the rise of the Antichrist, then God is not in charge and the whole point of these prophecies is kind of invalidated. The whole point of apocalyptic literature is that these bad things are happening and it seems like evil is winning over good, but in reality God is still all powerful and is still in control of all of it, and wins in the end.

[-] moondoggie@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago

I’m guessing it’s all down to sports. “I’m a Christian, so that means I’m on Christ’s team. Obviously Christ’s biggest rival is Antichrist, so I have to be against him too. Booooo Antichrist!”

[-] moseschrute@lemmy.zip 0 points 1 week ago
[-] fodor@lemmy.zip 1 points 1 week ago

You cannot be super rich and have even half a soul. It is simply impossible.

[-] CaptainBlinky@lemmy.myserv.one 0 points 1 week ago

Huh. If Trump is the Antichrist, and he fits the description pretty much perfectly, would AI be "The Beast" in this movie?

[-] FrChazzz@lemmus.org 0 points 1 week ago

So, the term “Antichrist” is kind of complicated. It only appears in the letters of Saint John (never showing up in Revelation, despite popular belief), where it tends to refer to a spiritual power that is “anti” Christ. But prophecy people over the centuries have turned this spiritual power into a certain figure they call The Antichrist. The imagery of this figure makes use of the “Beast” in Revelation 13 (specifically the Beast from the Sea). Which is all to say that “the Antichrist” and “the Beast” are, in a sense, the same figure. Curiously, and more to your question, Revelation 13 also refers to another Beast (from the earth) making an image of The Beast from the Sea that can speak and convince people that the image is alive. And this image forces people to take on the “Mark of the Beast” in order to participate in the economy. So, AI Trump?

[-] MisterD@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 week ago

Dibs on it being Stephen Miller

this post was submitted on 25 Sep 2025
54 points (98.2% liked)

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