Peter Thiel: Effective Altruists Were Right About AI

Invited by Walter Isaacson, Peter Thiel asserts that effective altruism has been right about one central point: AI. He maintains his criticisms by comparing the movement to a cult, while linking it to Anthropic and reported donation commitments surrounding the company. Thiel speaks of a technology "at our doorstep" and a potential that is both transformative and militarizable.

Thiel admits a "major point": "AI is at our doorstep"

Peter Thiel claims that the "big thing" that effective altruists understood is artificial intelligence, which he describes as "at our doorstep." He explains his method of argumentation, which involves acknowledging what his opponents have correctly perceived. Although he is not in favor of effective altruism, he believes the movement has been right on this specific point. Thiel refers to a knowledge that others did not possess and reminds us that effective altruists anticipated a major social transformation and a potentially armed use of AI.

Anthropic mentioned, between EA backgrounds and donation promises

Peter Thiel connects effective altruism to Anthropic and emphasizes that a billion-dollar company seems to exceed what a "crazy cult" could build, questioning the existence of comparable precedents. Dario and Daniela Amodei, who founded Anthropic, have previously been involved in effective altruism, even if they no longer identify with that movement today. The Financial Times reports that over 60 current or former employees of Anthropic have committed to donating a fraction of their income.

Comments made in The Builders, against the backdrop of an "AI desert age"

These remarks are made in the podcast The Builders hosted by Walter Isaacson, who asks Thiel what he considers the "big thing" to credit the movement with. Thiel places his comments in an era he describes as an "AI desert," marked by technology deemed promising but never truly realized, while some futurists maintained faith in its potential. He specifies that he has been a long-time critic of effective altruism, a sentiment shared by many leaders in the AI sector, while reaffirming that this movement had anticipated the rise of the technology and likening it to a cult.