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The Daily

The Techno-Religion at the Center of the A.I. Debate

September 18, 2026 • 34m

Summary

⏱️ 9 min read

Overview

In this episode of The Daily, tech reporter Cade Metz explores the backlash against AI safety advocates, tracing how a philosophical subculture called the rationalists has shaped Silicon Valley's approach to artificial intelligence. The discussion reveals how this community—which believes AI could pose existential risks to humanity—paradoxically helped create the very AI companies now racing to build powerful systems, while also examining the competing philosophies driving today's AI debates.

The Backlash Against AI Safety Advocates

The episode opens with a wave of criticism directed at tech leaders calling for AI regulation and safety measures. Critics claim these safety advocates are engaging in regulatory capture, trying to lock in their competitive advantages, or even belonging to a doomsday cult. However, beneath these extreme accusations lies a real and influential subculture that has shaped the AI industry in profound ways.

  • Tech executives, lawmakers, and President Trump are pushing back against AI safety warnings
  • Critics accuse AI safety advocates of regulatory capture—trying to create regulations that benefit them and ice out competitors
  • The most extreme claim is that AI safety advocates are part of a doomsday cult
  • There is a powerful subculture that has genuinely influenced the creation of major AI labs
" I feel a little bit weird about the fact that you have so many frontier AI tech companies kind of coming to the government and begging the government to regulate them. It feels a little bit to me like a bit of a Trojan horse. "

The Birth of the Extropians: Technology as Salvation

In 1996, a small mailing list on the nascent Internet gave birth to a community called the Extropians who believed technology could reverse entropy itself. This incredibly optimistic group envisioned a future where technology would supercharge human bodies and minds, allowing humanity to transcend Earth and explore new worlds. Among this group were future influential figures including WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and suspected Bitcoin creators.

  • The Extropians emerged in 1996 on a small Internet mailing list, believing in 'extropy'—the opposite of entropy
  • They believed technology could allow humans to rebuild their bodies, supercharge their brains, and move beyond planetary limitations
  • Julian Assange and three people suspected of founding Bitcoin were part of this group
  • Two key members were Eliezer Yudkowsky and Nick Bostrom, who would become instrumental in spreading AI ideas
" They believed in a world where the opposite was true, where I could recharge my batteries, rebuild my body, supercharge my brain, and move in the opposite direction. "

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