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Are the visions of tech billionaires like Musk and Bezos a genuine attempt to secure humanity’s future, or are they manifestations of a deeper, more troubling ideology? It’s tempting to view the tech elite’s recent political leanings as a sudden shift, a departure from Silicon Valley’s traditional alignment.
However, a closer look reveals a more complex reality. While many tech workers may lean left, the core ideology driving the venture capitalists and CEOs has long harbored a far-right, libertarian inclination.
The Myth of Technological Salvation
The dreams of colonizing Mars or achieving super-intelligent AI are not merely whimsical distractions. They are central to the worldview of these tech billionaires, and these visions are intertwined with dreams of autocratic control.
Musk’s vision of a self-sufficient Martian colony and Bezos’s concept of space stations are not feasible solutions to Earth’s problems. Instead, they represent a desire for corporate control, free from government regulations, a libertarian paradise where they dictate the rules.
Consider Musk’s Starlink user agreement, which declares Mars a “free planet” beyond Earth’s jurisdiction. In this scenario, Martian residents would be entirely dependent on SpaceX, creating the ultimate company town.
The Allure of Artificial Intelligence
AI is the magic ingredient fueling the tech billionaires’ futuristic dreams. The belief in rapidly approaching super-intelligence that surpasses human capabilities is widespread in Silicon Valley, despite skepticism from AI researchers.
This faith is tied to the myth of the Singularity, a transformative event that promises technological miracles like immortality and limitless energy. This vision, rooted in science fiction and apocalyptic religious movements, positions AI as a deity and space as paradise.
Gambling on AGI
This unwavering faith in technological salvation leads tech billionaires to believe in the imminent arrival of a perfect world, algorithmically guaranteed by AI and space colonization.
Even in the face of climate change, figures like Eric Schmidt and Sam Altman believe that super-intelligent AI will provide the solutions, despite the enormous carbon footprint of AI data centers. Altman’s plan to solve global warming by simply asking a machine for solutions is a dangerous gamble our civilization cannot afford.
While tech billionaires are confident in their vision, it offers little to the rest of us, who must live in the real world and face the consequences of their risky bets.
Adam Becker is a science journalist, astrophysicist, and author of More Everything Forever: AI Overlords, Space Empires, and Silicon Valley’s Crusade to Control the Fate of Humanity.