The Gospel according to Peter (Thiel)

<figure> <img alt="Peter Thiel with a devil whispering in his ear in front of an apocalyptic tech background." data-caption="" data-portal-copyright="Lia Kantrowitz for The Verge" data-has-syndication-rights="1" src="https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/10/258014_Peter_Thiel_LKantrowitz.jpg?quality=90&#038;strip=all&#038;crop=0,0,100,100" /> <figcaption> </figcaption> </figure> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">It's a time of apocalyptic worldviews in Silicon Valley. The latest AI doom cycle is driven by effective altruism, a philosophy that has lurked around the fringes for years but recently burst into the mainstream because its adherents are embedded across the AI industry, from Anthropic to newly appointed AI safety watchdog METR. EA is a utilitarian approach to charity premised on doing the most good for the most people over the longest time, and EA advocates see <a href="https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/hGwAohPbwCrDT5ynY/ea-as-antichrist-understanding-peter-thiel">halting an AI-induced doomsday</a> as critical to saving as many humans as possible.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">But EA has an important and equally apocalyptic rival in the crosscutting cosmologies of the tech tit …</p> <p><a href="https://www.theverge.com/tech/1014252/peter-thiel-antichrist-lectures-analysis">Read the full story at The Verge.</a></p>