WEBVTT - Week in Tech: The Anti-Christ, the Billionaire and God in the Machine 0:00:13.920 --> 0:00:17.520 From Kaleidoscope and iHeart podcasts. This is tech stuff. I'm 0:00:17.520 --> 0:00:21.079 Oz Valoscian and I'm caar Price. Today we're going to 0:00:21.120 --> 0:00:24.240 get into how Christianity is on the rise in Silicon Valley. 0:00:24.720 --> 0:00:25.720 Then on Chat to. 0:00:25.800 --> 0:00:28.960 Me, I scrolled down to my very first interaction with 0:00:29.080 --> 0:00:33.120 chat and the first question was why have I been 0:00:33.200 --> 0:00:34.040 unlucky in love? 0:00:34.479 --> 0:00:36.280 When AI advice goes wrong? 0:00:36.600 --> 0:00:44.760 All of that on the weekend. Tech is Friday, October seventeenth. 0:00:47.400 --> 0:00:51.120 Hello Cara, Hi ahs. So the DAYSA came out, which 0:00:51.159 --> 0:00:55.720 is open ayes updated video generation tool and social media app. 0:00:56.200 --> 0:00:58.400 You said to me, people might look back on this 0:00:58.480 --> 0:00:59.960 as the day the Internet change forever. 0:01:00.240 --> 0:01:02.960 I did say that, and I'm not a Pollyanna. 0:01:02.880 --> 0:01:04.320 But I did think you drunk the kool aid. 0:01:04.680 --> 0:01:06.160 No, I drank the truth juice. 0:01:06.319 --> 0:01:10.360 I want some of that. Well, you know, I have 0:01:10.480 --> 0:01:13.119 to give you some credit because as the news has 0:01:13.160 --> 0:01:15.800 evolved and Sorra has kind of taken over the whole 0:01:15.800 --> 0:01:18.800 of social media, I think it's fair to say that 0:01:18.840 --> 0:01:21.160 you were right and I was wrong. This came home 0:01:21.200 --> 0:01:24.000 to me this week with a story about an AI 0:01:24.520 --> 0:01:29.000 homeless person prank. His modo ran a story about how 0:01:29.640 --> 0:01:35.080 kids are creating fake homeless people in AI images and 0:01:35.120 --> 0:01:37.920 then sending them to their parents, Like here he is 0:01:38.000 --> 0:01:40.240 arriving at the door. He says he's a friend of yours. 0:01:40.319 --> 0:01:43.959 He says, he's a friend of your I needed arrest, 0:01:44.120 --> 0:01:47.440 so he's sleeping in your bed. Okay, So like our 0:01:47.480 --> 0:01:50.800 parents falling for this, Yeah, and then in many cases 0:01:51.360 --> 0:01:54.720 the parents call the police. What the well, of course, 0:01:54.760 --> 0:01:57.120 I mean that the kids are saying, here's a strange 0:01:57.240 --> 0:01:59.840 man in our house. He says, a. 0:01:59.760 --> 0:02:04.400 Friend to get Jeremy Carrasco, my dear friend, show tools 0:02:04.400 --> 0:02:07.760 AI to give these people some tutorial on how to 0:02:07.800 --> 0:02:08.440 pixel peep. 0:02:08.840 --> 0:02:09.560 What would he say? 0:02:10.120 --> 0:02:11.160 I think he would say. 0:02:11.080 --> 0:02:13.720 To look closely at this homeless guy. You can kind 0:02:13.760 --> 0:02:16.880 of look at his teeth and his face and his eyes, 0:02:16.960 --> 0:02:20.639 and there will be things they're in that you can 0:02:20.680 --> 0:02:21.520 tell are not real. 0:02:21.840 --> 0:02:24.240 But I also, I'm looking at the images like they're. 0:02:24.120 --> 0:02:25.280 Very super real. 0:02:25.639 --> 0:02:28.120 It's uncanny, though. I mean, to be a parent and 0:02:28.160 --> 0:02:30.480 to have a kid be like, what's this guy doing 0:02:30.520 --> 0:02:32.639 in our house? I guess I would call the police too. 0:02:33.320 --> 0:02:35.440 Well. I mean, that's the thing I had some hesitation 0:02:35.520 --> 0:02:37.600 about bringing this story to you today. As the first 0:02:37.639 --> 0:02:38.720 story on the show. 0:02:38.560 --> 0:02:40.400 Because because you knew I'd like it to. 0:02:41.080 --> 0:02:42.919 Before I decided to bring to you the first story, 0:02:42.960 --> 0:02:44.840 I asked myself, what is the butt of this joke? 0:02:44.960 --> 0:02:47.880 Is the butt of this joke homeless people? Or is 0:02:47.880 --> 0:02:50.960 the butt of this joke gullible parents who freak out 0:02:51.040 --> 0:02:54.399 and sort of share this cultural terror of homeless people. Yeah, 0:02:54.600 --> 0:02:56.639 I don't know where it is between those two things. 0:02:56.919 --> 0:02:59.320 But what I think is really interesting about this sore 0:02:59.360 --> 0:03:02.080 A moment is it gives you a glimpse into the 0:03:02.160 --> 0:03:06.280 kind of collective subconscious of the Internet. And so I 0:03:06.280 --> 0:03:08.440 think its not for nothing that the kind of most 0:03:08.760 --> 0:03:12.600 viral meme of the moment is this kind of fantasy 0:03:12.880 --> 0:03:19.080 objectification creation of homeless people effectively vampire like crossing the 0:03:19.120 --> 0:03:22.120 threshold and invading the house. But it's also a metaverse 0:03:22.160 --> 0:03:26.560 story because, as I mentioned, parents are calling the cops 0:03:27.040 --> 0:03:31.080 in North Austin the Round Police Patrol Division Commander Andy 0:03:31.160 --> 0:03:34.680 McKinney told NBC getting a call about an intruder quote 0:03:34.880 --> 0:03:37.600 causes a pretty aggressive response for us because we're worried 0:03:37.640 --> 0:03:40.440 about the safety of the individuals in the home, which 0:03:40.480 --> 0:03:43.360 can mean clearing the home with guns. Out it could 0:03:43.360 --> 0:03:45.080 also cause a swap response. 0:03:45.520 --> 0:03:49.400 Anyone who says that I overreact about manipulated video is wrong, 0:03:49.960 --> 0:03:54.520 like the fact that this is taking department resources to 0:03:55.520 --> 0:03:59.160 fend off a prank that is created by teenagers. And 0:03:59.200 --> 0:04:01.560 also these are not AI masterminds. 0:04:01.600 --> 0:04:03.440 There's a kid, and the idea that you would need 0:04:03.440 --> 0:04:06.600 a swap team to respond is also kind of mind blowing. 0:04:06.920 --> 0:04:09.080 But this actually brings me to my main story of 0:04:09.080 --> 0:04:12.680 the week, because you know who preached charity and compassion 0:04:12.720 --> 0:04:18.360 and care for the homeless, JC, Jesus Christ. Here's what 0:04:18.400 --> 0:04:22.000 he had to say in the gospel. Foxes have holes 0:04:22.200 --> 0:04:24.599 and birds of the air have nests, but the son 0:04:24.640 --> 0:04:27.760 of Man has nowhere to lay his head. Oh my God. 0:04:28.080 --> 0:04:30.200 You may be scratching your head as to why I'm 0:04:30.279 --> 0:04:35.080 quoting the Bible, but it's relevant because Christianity is currently 0:04:35.520 --> 0:04:37.560 all the rage with Silicon Valley elites. 0:04:38.040 --> 0:04:43.440 It still somehow surprises me when people bring up Christianity 0:04:43.480 --> 0:04:45.240 in the same breath as Silicon Valley. 0:04:45.800 --> 0:04:48.640 Why is that, well, I mean, it's surprising because the 0:04:48.720 --> 0:04:53.719 two were, for a while seemingly anathema. There's a line 0:04:53.800 --> 0:04:56.920 in the famous TV show about Silicon Valley called Silicon 0:04:57.000 --> 0:05:02.280 Valley where somebody says Christianity is order illegal in northern California, 0:05:02.880 --> 0:05:06.240 and Vanity Fair actually uses that quote in a headline 0:05:06.600 --> 0:05:09.679 about today's trend of Christianity rising in Silicon Valley. 0:05:10.120 --> 0:05:12.480 You know, San Francisco has always struck me. And this 0:05:12.520 --> 0:05:16.400 is a joke. You know, as more about communes than communions. 0:05:16.640 --> 0:05:18.240 It's always a good sign for a joke when you 0:05:18.279 --> 0:05:19.599 have to tell someone as a joke. 0:05:20.680 --> 0:05:22.920 But I mean it, like, what what's happening here? 0:05:23.080 --> 0:05:25.800 Okay, Well it's a huge question. And actually this is 0:05:25.839 --> 0:05:28.680 a somewhat personal story for me because a number of 0:05:28.680 --> 0:05:31.719 my friends who are not in Silicon Valley have recently 0:05:31.720 --> 0:05:34.520 turned to Christianity go to church every week. I think 0:05:34.520 --> 0:05:37.719 in search really community. Yeah, community structure. 0:05:38.160 --> 0:05:40.280 I have found myself more drawn to synagogue recently, but 0:05:40.279 --> 0:05:41.000 we can talk about it. 0:05:41.200 --> 0:05:43.320 I want to ask you exactly about that, because I've 0:05:43.360 --> 0:05:45.440 noticed that too. You talk about going to synagogue when 0:05:45.440 --> 0:05:47.040 you go to synagogue more than you did when I 0:05:47.080 --> 0:05:47.560 knew you. 0:05:47.880 --> 0:05:49.120 Much more, much more. 0:05:49.440 --> 0:05:49.600 Why. 0:05:50.360 --> 0:05:54.279 I think because I'm in search of like a single 0:05:54.440 --> 0:06:00.359 place left in the universe that is somehow tech iastic. 0:06:00.440 --> 0:06:03.560 Now the irony is that the rabbis in the synagogue 0:06:03.560 --> 0:06:06.120 that I go to use iPads, but I would imagine 0:06:06.160 --> 0:06:07.520 they don't have notifications on. 0:06:08.080 --> 0:06:11.839 Yeah, it's not a huge surprise that the resurgence of faith, 0:06:12.000 --> 0:06:14.200 partly in response, I think, to tech, as you've mentioned, 0:06:14.640 --> 0:06:17.680 is also happening where tech is made in Silicon Valley. 0:06:18.000 --> 0:06:21.560 But actually, what I think is particularly interesting is that 0:06:21.560 --> 0:06:25.440 Silicon Valley has always been drawn to countercultures. Yes, and 0:06:25.480 --> 0:06:30.320 the counterculture of ten years ago was psychedelics, burning man, polyamory. 0:06:30.760 --> 0:06:31.839 Then that became mainstream. 0:06:31.880 --> 0:06:33.760 Now now it's polygamy. No, I'm kidding that. 0:06:34.000 --> 0:06:36.200 Yeah, So now the old has become new, and it's 0:06:36.200 --> 0:06:40.160 revolutionary to be a Christian in Silicon Valley. So obviously 0:06:40.200 --> 0:06:41.760 the person I want to talk to you about this 0:06:41.800 --> 0:06:45.560 week is peed deal your faith, who I think embodies 0:06:45.720 --> 0:06:47.159 you know, both are swing to the right of the 0:06:47.160 --> 0:06:51.240 tech industry and the rise of Christianity. You're presumably familiar, 0:06:51.320 --> 0:06:53.599 like everybody else on the internet, with his lecture series 0:06:53.680 --> 0:06:57.520 I Am a four part lecture on the Antichrist. Let 0:06:57.560 --> 0:06:59.960 me read from the website quote you are warmly invite 0:07:00.240 --> 0:07:03.240 to a series of four lectures by Peter Teel addressing 0:07:03.279 --> 0:07:05.400 the topic of the biblical Antichrist. 0:07:05.520 --> 0:07:07.560 Who first, can I just ask you who he was inviting? 0:07:07.760 --> 0:07:09.359 Was this on zoom? 0:07:09.560 --> 0:07:11.360 No, No, you could apply, you could go in person, 0:07:11.600 --> 0:07:14.280 and I think it was the crowd, as far as 0:07:14.320 --> 0:07:19.920 I understand, was male dominated, mid twentiesingly guys. And you know, 0:07:19.960 --> 0:07:22.840 Peter Teel obviously is the guy who found a pallenteer 0:07:23.120 --> 0:07:26.680 and PayPal, sued the website Gorper out of existence, and 0:07:26.760 --> 0:07:30.400 personally funded a huge portion of JD Vance's political rise. 0:07:30.760 --> 0:07:34.720 He's also about Christian and in his Antichrist lecture series, 0:07:35.160 --> 0:07:38.440 he posed a few questions about who the Antichrist might be. 0:07:39.040 --> 0:07:42.080 He said, it could be Greta Thumberg, poor Greta. It 0:07:42.160 --> 0:07:45.560 might even be Donald Trump. Oh but it couldn't possibly 0:07:45.640 --> 0:07:50.840 be Mark Andreson, because you know what, because the Antichrist 0:07:51.160 --> 0:07:53.280 is supposed to be popular. Isn't that a great disk? 0:07:53.640 --> 0:07:55.480 That's fantastic. That's fantastic. 0:07:55.600 --> 0:07:57.680 So I think it's important to understand a bit more 0:07:57.760 --> 0:08:04.680 about the nonprofit called the seventeen Collective That's Acts, which 0:08:04.720 --> 0:08:08.080 started holding speaking events and in person events actually last year, 0:08:08.560 --> 0:08:11.680 and they partner with Peter Teel on this event series. 0:08:12.280 --> 0:08:15.840 The group is named after Act seventeen, which is a 0:08:15.920 --> 0:08:18.120 chapter in the Bible which is all about the apostle 0:08:18.160 --> 0:08:21.760 Paul and how he goes to Greece to preach to intellectuals. Ah. 0:08:21.880 --> 0:08:23.680 I see, so there's a kind of sort of doing. 0:08:23.800 --> 0:08:26.720 Is they're kind of referencing this inception of the smartest 0:08:26.720 --> 0:08:30.200 people in the world, which is maybe a little coressed congratulatory. 0:08:30.240 --> 0:08:32.079 Yeah, absolutely absolutely. 0:08:32.840 --> 0:08:35.719 There's also, according to the anti fair piece, a spreadsheet 0:08:35.960 --> 0:08:39.240 of secret Christians in tech that was being passed around 0:08:39.559 --> 0:08:42.960 before Christianity and Silicon Valley became mainstreamed. 0:08:43.160 --> 0:08:47.800 And who is on this secret spreadsheet of Christians in Tech? 0:08:48.840 --> 0:08:52.080 I don't know, but I can tell you who Some 0:08:52.120 --> 0:08:55.960 of the most prominent Silicon Valley Christiansky Jerry tan Who 0:08:56.000 --> 0:08:56.679 Jerry Tann. 0:08:56.559 --> 0:08:59.880 Is, Yes, I do. He's the CEO of y Combine. 0:09:00.640 --> 0:09:03.480 Look at that. He's the CEO Y Combinator, which is 0:09:03.559 --> 0:09:07.080 an extremely influential organization because if you're a young would 0:09:07.120 --> 0:09:09.640 be founder and you get the Y Combinator's seal of approval, 0:09:10.040 --> 0:09:13.640 you are off to the races, right. Another prominent Silicon 0:09:13.720 --> 0:09:17.280 Valley Christian is Pat Gelsinger, who's the former CEO of 0:09:17.320 --> 0:09:20.200 Internal that's one I didn't know. Maybe also a little 0:09:20.240 --> 0:09:22.720 less a little less reflex in today's Silicon Valley to 0:09:22.760 --> 0:09:27.240 be fair. And then very interestingly, there's Tray Stevens. Trey 0:09:27.320 --> 0:09:31.720 Stephens is a Peter Teele partner at Peter Teele's Founder's Fund, 0:09:32.080 --> 0:09:35.080 but he also co founded the defense firm Anderill with 0:09:35.120 --> 0:09:39.640 Palmeer Lucky Oh with old Palmer Lucky. Trey's wife, Michelle 0:09:40.040 --> 0:09:42.360 actually founded at seventeen collective. 0:09:43.280 --> 0:09:45.000 His wife founded it. Fascinating. 0:09:45.559 --> 0:09:49.000 So, I mean, obviously these are major players in the 0:09:49.040 --> 0:09:52.440 tech world, but like, what is the Christianity that they 0:09:52.480 --> 0:09:52.960 believe in? 0:09:53.200 --> 0:09:56.480 Well, I really don't want to speak for them about 0:09:56.480 --> 0:09:59.160 their faith. And I also, while I find some of 0:09:59.160 --> 0:10:00.840 this stuff quite a musing, and I also don't you know, 0:10:00.880 --> 0:10:02.960 I think it's faith plays such an important role in 0:10:02.960 --> 0:10:05.920 so many people's lives. But in the Vanity Fair piece, 0:10:06.040 --> 0:10:10.319 there is some interesting reporting on the broader interaction between 0:10:10.360 --> 0:10:13.920 the tech industry and faith. So Toby Kirth, who's the 0:10:13.920 --> 0:10:17.240 pastor at Peter Teel's church, said, quote, each person has 0:10:17.240 --> 0:10:20.960 a calling and a vocation, and using your gifts to 0:10:21.040 --> 0:10:24.520 the max is a good thing and it's what God 0:10:24.520 --> 0:10:28.079 would want Daniel Francis, the Catholic founder of the AI 0:10:28.160 --> 0:10:32.000 startup able, said quote, you have a duty as a 0:10:32.040 --> 0:10:34.520 founder to make really good products and get them into 0:10:34.520 --> 0:10:38.960 people's hands. You're making God real in people's lives when 0:10:38.960 --> 0:10:43.000 they experience that. Now, obviously there's some good old fashioned 0:10:43.080 --> 0:10:46.240 the American intersection of capitalism and faith and the work 0:10:46.280 --> 0:10:47.920 ethic and all of those things here, and that you 0:10:48.000 --> 0:10:50.600 make money from your talents and then you help the 0:10:50.679 --> 0:10:52.040 poor and all those things. I mean, this is this 0:10:52.080 --> 0:10:54.480 is not so new, but I was kind of more 0:10:54.559 --> 0:10:57.480 intrigued by the idea that there's this belief that if 0:10:57.559 --> 0:11:01.079 God gives you the ability to create new technologology, it's 0:11:01.120 --> 0:11:02.480 your God given purpose to do so. 0:11:02.960 --> 0:11:07.160 Are other people outside of these elite Silicon Valley types 0:11:07.559 --> 0:11:09.199 involved in this church well. 0:11:09.559 --> 0:11:12.120 A pastor at a non denominational church that many of 0:11:12.120 --> 0:11:16.760 these folks go to said that during COVID his congregation swelled, 0:11:17.120 --> 0:11:20.040 in fact more than doubled in size. From a cynical 0:11:20.080 --> 0:11:22.679 point of view, that might not be surprising because some 0:11:22.760 --> 0:11:24.720 of the members of the church are also the most 0:11:24.720 --> 0:11:28.280 powerful people in Silicon Valley, and the church isn't necessarily 0:11:28.320 --> 0:11:31.320 the worst place to rub shoulders with the folks in 0:11:31.360 --> 0:11:32.040 high places. 0:11:32.360 --> 0:11:37.480 So basically going to church as a networking opportunity. 0:11:36.440 --> 0:11:40.040 Not for everyone. I'm sure there's good faith motivations to 0:11:40.080 --> 0:11:42.640 be there just for reasons of pure faith. But one 0:11:42.720 --> 0:11:46.080 Christian entrepreneur was quoted in the Vanity Fair piece saying, quote, 0:11:46.360 --> 0:11:49.439 I guarantee you there are people that are leveraging Christianity 0:11:49.640 --> 0:11:51.240 to get closer to Peter Teel. 0:11:51.600 --> 0:11:54.439 I mean, it is interesting, this is on a sort 0:11:54.480 --> 0:11:57.520 of much grander stage. But like everybody goes to church 0:11:57.559 --> 0:11:59.559 to network in a certain way, so it's just I 0:11:59.559 --> 0:12:00.960 think this or higher here. 0:12:01.440 --> 0:12:02.680 This story, though, really was. 0:12:02.640 --> 0:12:04.320 About something that I don't want you to forget about, 0:12:04.320 --> 0:12:05.359 which is the Antichrist. 0:12:05.760 --> 0:12:10.320 Don't worry, I wouldn't have done so. Peter Tiel gave 0:12:10.400 --> 0:12:14.800 this almost eight hour lecture series about the Antichrist, which 0:12:14.960 --> 0:12:18.520 was theoretically off the record, but of course immediately to 0:12:18.559 --> 0:12:19.199 the press. 0:12:19.520 --> 0:12:21.880 You know, it's very funny that the guy who helped 0:12:21.920 --> 0:12:25.120 create the surveillance state through technology cannot seem to escape 0:12:25.160 --> 0:12:27.600 being surveilled. He couldn't even do an off the record 0:12:27.800 --> 0:12:29.640 lecture series even if he tried. 0:12:30.760 --> 0:12:33.560 Well, he may be one step ahead of the game here, 0:12:33.600 --> 0:12:36.480 Old Peter, because he said, quote this is in the lecture. 0:12:36.880 --> 0:12:39.520 It's a pretty good marketing shtick. If you want everyone 0:12:39.559 --> 0:12:42.320 to hear about something, not to let anyone into the room. 0:12:42.760 --> 0:12:45.560 I'm not bragging, but I'm not totally incompetent either. 0:12:47.440 --> 0:12:50.280 Any anybody who says I'm not bragging is the same 0:12:50.320 --> 0:12:52.680 person who says I have no assholes policy. It's like 0:12:52.760 --> 0:12:55.560 you are you love assholes, and you are bragging. So 0:12:55.880 --> 0:12:57.280 what were the lectures actually about. 0:12:57.679 --> 0:12:59.920 Well, a lot of it, weirdly or maybe not weirdly, 0:13:00.200 --> 0:13:04.800 actually seemed to revolve around deregulation. The Washington Post got 0:13:04.800 --> 0:13:07.640 access to all eight hours of recordings and they reported 0:13:07.720 --> 0:13:11.320 quote Teal argued that critiques of technology and calls for 0:13:11.360 --> 0:13:17.240 stricter regulation by Greta Thunberg and others appear to echo 0:13:17.480 --> 0:13:22.000 biblical interpretations of an Antichrist who will win power by 0:13:22.040 --> 0:13:26.880 offering the world quote peace and safety from apocalyptic destruction. 0:13:27.640 --> 0:13:30.040 So what he's saying is that anybody who wants to 0:13:30.120 --> 0:13:33.320 regulate technology or AI is essentially the devil. 0:13:33.800 --> 0:13:36.640 That is the direction of That is the direction of 0:13:36.640 --> 0:13:41.000 the lecture series, apparently. But that's not the only possibility 0:13:41.160 --> 0:13:44.400 for what the Antichrist might be up to. Reportedly, Teal 0:13:44.480 --> 0:13:48.040 also said, quote is becoming quite difficult to hide one's money. 0:13:50.920 --> 0:13:57.480 An incredible machinery of tax treaties, financial surveillance, and sanctions 0:13:57.559 --> 0:14:00.400 architecture has been constructed, and he went on to say 0:14:00.440 --> 0:14:02.720 that while being rich might give you the illusion of 0:14:02.760 --> 0:14:05.160 having power, you have the sense that it could be 0:14:05.160 --> 0:14:06.520 taken away at any. 0:14:06.320 --> 0:14:08.280 Moment all of a sudden. I feel bad for him. 0:14:08.559 --> 0:14:11.960 So the idea that he's driving towards here is that 0:14:12.040 --> 0:14:15.920 this combination of regulation of financial oversight, if it being 0:14:15.920 --> 0:14:20.120 hard to hide your money, is quote a sign that 0:14:20.200 --> 0:14:24.040 a singular world government has begun to emerge that could 0:14:24.080 --> 0:14:27.240 be taken over by an antichrist figure who could then 0:14:27.360 --> 0:14:28.880 use it to exert control over people. 0:14:28.920 --> 0:14:31.840 So someone like Donald Trump or Greta Tunberg exactly. 0:14:31.880 --> 0:14:35.640 He did clarify that it's not Donald Trump, but he said interestingly, quote, 0:14:35.680 --> 0:14:38.800 if you, in a sincere, rational, well reasoned way, are 0:14:38.840 --> 0:14:41.280 willing to make the argument that Trump is the Antichrist, 0:14:41.680 --> 0:14:42.240 I will give you. 0:14:42.240 --> 0:14:44.720 A hearing unbelievable. 0:14:44.840 --> 0:14:46.640 He went on to say, if you're not willing to 0:14:46.680 --> 0:14:49.160 make that argument, maybe you have to be open to 0:14:49.200 --> 0:14:53.800 the possibility that he's at least relatively good unbelievable onn't 0:14:53.800 --> 0:14:56.680 these weird quotes? So then that Washington Post called up 0:14:56.720 --> 0:14:59.840 his spokesmhen Jeremiah Hall, who said, Peter doesn't believe Trump 0:15:00.120 --> 0:15:01.040 the Antichrist. 0:15:01.280 --> 0:15:03.160 He's like, just to clarify he doesn't believe that. 0:15:03.560 --> 0:15:05.960 His challenge was for Trump's liberal critics to make the 0:15:06.000 --> 0:15:07.960 case that if they want Peter to hear them out, 0:15:08.640 --> 0:15:10.920 they can, but he knows in practice they can't do that, 0:15:10.960 --> 0:15:11.840 and they won't do it. 0:15:11.960 --> 0:15:14.200 So what is the obsession with the Antichrist? 0:15:14.720 --> 0:15:16.960 I'm not sure if I'll be able to properly answer 0:15:16.960 --> 0:15:20.240 that question, but I can tell you that some Christians 0:15:20.280 --> 0:15:25.000 believe the Antichrist is the personal opponent of Christ, and 0:15:25.040 --> 0:15:27.920 they're expected the Antichrist to appear before the end of 0:15:27.920 --> 0:15:31.880 the world. Here's what Peter Teel said quote. My thesis 0:15:31.960 --> 0:15:35.320 is that in the seventeenth eighteenth century, the Antichrist would 0:15:35.360 --> 0:15:38.760 have been a doctor strange Love, a scientist who did 0:15:38.800 --> 0:15:42.000 all this sort of evil, crazy science. In the twenty 0:15:42.080 --> 0:15:45.440 first century, the Antichrist is a luddite who wants to 0:15:45.440 --> 0:15:49.800 stop all the science. It's someone like Greta what do 0:15:49.800 --> 0:15:50.800 you think it's just a. 0:15:50.800 --> 0:15:54.040 Very trumpy and fixation on like a young woman, you 0:15:54.080 --> 0:15:54.600 know what I mean? 0:15:54.680 --> 0:15:58.480 Well no, well maybe that I latch onto Greta, because 0:15:58.760 --> 0:16:01.800 to be fair, he did surface other candidates. Drum roll 0:16:02.560 --> 0:16:03.120 Joe Biden. 0:16:05.520 --> 0:16:07.240 So Joe Biden could be the Antichrist. 0:16:07.640 --> 0:16:12.240 No, he's not charismatic enough. She shin ping anti Christ. 0:16:12.360 --> 0:16:16.680 Not charismatic enough, not charismatic enough. Bill Gates a quote 0:16:16.800 --> 0:16:21.680 very very awful person, but quote not remotely able to 0:16:21.720 --> 0:16:21.880 be the. 0:16:21.880 --> 0:16:23.600 Anti I want to know why he thinks he couldn't 0:16:23.600 --> 0:16:26.040 be the Antichrist. I'm sure. I mean, it's obviously something offensive. 0:16:26.120 --> 0:16:28.240 I think. I think, I think not being the Antichrist 0:16:28.440 --> 0:16:30.120 is a real dick at your charism. 0:16:29.960 --> 0:16:32.320 It is like, you don't have the balls to be 0:16:32.360 --> 0:16:33.040 the Antichrist. 0:16:33.280 --> 0:16:34.600 You don't have the balls to you don't have the 0:16:34.600 --> 0:16:37.520 balls or the shops exactly. Look, it's a weird and 0:16:37.680 --> 0:16:41.480 entertaining story, but it's also consequential. I mean, Peter Teel has. 0:16:41.360 --> 0:16:43.160 A lot of power, that's true, he has a lot 0:16:43.160 --> 0:16:43.560 of power. 0:16:44.120 --> 0:16:46.760 Legions of people, you know, hanging on as every word 0:16:46.800 --> 0:16:49.400 and going to this lecture series. But more to me 0:16:49.480 --> 0:16:53.160 because it speaks of a broader existential crisis that is 0:16:53.200 --> 0:16:54.840 sweeping many people. 0:16:54.880 --> 0:16:55.160 I know. 0:16:55.800 --> 0:16:59.800 Imagine building a I imagine thinking, oh my god, God 0:16:59.880 --> 0:17:03.040 is in the machine, like I'm actually making this product 0:17:03.880 --> 0:17:07.120 first time and it's talking back to me. It's very powerful. 0:17:07.440 --> 0:17:11.040 So this raises questions for anyone. I can imagine if 0:17:11.040 --> 0:17:14.440 anyone you know, what is consciousness is like, shoulday I 0:17:14.520 --> 0:17:16.960 have rights? Is it conscious? But on the flip side, 0:17:17.080 --> 0:17:18.800 what does it mean to be human? Somebody said to 0:17:18.800 --> 0:17:20.560 me the other day, we need to stop asking what 0:17:20.600 --> 0:17:22.480 AI is for and ask what humans are for. 0:17:22.680 --> 0:17:24.560 I've heard that before, and I think that it's true. 0:17:24.920 --> 0:17:27.000 I do, well, yeah, you go, you gotta go to 0:17:27.040 --> 0:17:30.600 church or syn But seriously, yeah, I think this return 0:17:30.680 --> 0:17:34.399 to a system of values that predates this terrifying and 0:17:34.480 --> 0:17:38.000 spectacular moment is not for nothing. I also one of 0:17:38.000 --> 0:17:41.560 my hobby horses is that we're living through a new renaissance. 0:17:41.720 --> 0:17:43.240 Yes, you love to say this, Well. 0:17:43.119 --> 0:17:45.720 I'm in the original renaissance where you had this extraordinary 0:17:46.359 --> 0:17:51.560 explosion of scientific invention, new ways of understanding the world, Leonardo, 0:17:51.640 --> 0:17:53.919 new ways of understanding the human body, the stars, the 0:17:53.960 --> 0:17:57.880 solar system. You also have the extraordinary concentration of wealth 0:17:57.920 --> 0:17:59.879 and power in the hands of people like the medic cheese, 0:18:00.920 --> 0:18:07.520 and you had a fundamentalist religious resurgence which hunts inquisition, 0:18:07.880 --> 0:18:11.560 burning people at the stake. So you know, in a sense, 0:18:11.600 --> 0:18:12.200 nothing is new. 0:18:12.920 --> 0:18:15.360 Does this seem to be an agenda that he's pushing 0:18:15.480 --> 0:18:17.600 onto people or is it just like, come listen to 0:18:17.640 --> 0:18:18.840 my lectures if you're interested. 0:18:19.080 --> 0:18:21.479 Well, I mean I think when he said I'm not 0:18:21.520 --> 0:18:23.639 totally incompetent, I knew if I told people it's a secret, 0:18:23.640 --> 0:18:27.359 everyone want to know about it. I think it's in 0:18:27.400 --> 0:18:28.440 the small prince. 0:18:30.880 --> 0:18:33.399 After the break, satellites are falling out of the sky. 0:18:33.880 --> 0:18:36.920 The Dutch seized a microchip company, and chatchipt helps you 0:18:36.960 --> 0:18:37.560 get a date. 0:18:44.640 --> 0:18:49.199 And we're back. Cara, Have you been following the continued 0:18:49.280 --> 0:18:51.440 drama in the world of microchips? 0:18:51.520 --> 0:18:52.600 No, and you're obsessed. 0:18:54.000 --> 0:18:58.280 I mean, this is geopolitics at the scale of something 0:18:58.560 --> 0:18:58.920 you know. 0:18:59.520 --> 0:19:03.480 Micro, the smallest largest scale possible. 0:19:04.200 --> 0:19:06.639 Macro meets micro exactly. So there's been a ton of 0:19:06.680 --> 0:19:09.720 microchip news this week. OpenAI announced a deal with the 0:19:09.800 --> 0:19:13.280 chip maker broad Com to make custom AI microchips just 0:19:13.400 --> 0:19:17.880 for them. Obviously, China announced this ban on the export 0:19:18.000 --> 0:19:22.640 of rare earth metals which will affect computer chips and 0:19:22.680 --> 0:19:25.840 in turn have got the tariff conversation buzzing again the 0:19:25.880 --> 0:19:29.240 stock market down. Most of that news has been pretty 0:19:29.240 --> 0:19:31.880 well reported and you can get it anywhere. So I'm 0:19:31.920 --> 0:19:36.679 going to take you to the Netherlands otherwise known as Holland, Okay, 0:19:37.160 --> 0:19:42.240 where my tulips are exactly so. First off, there have 0:19:42.280 --> 0:19:46.960 been reports brewing that Dutch microchips are winding up in 0:19:47.119 --> 0:19:51.919 Russian weapons which are being used against Ukraine, despite the 0:19:51.960 --> 0:19:53.919 fact that the Western sanctions are supposed to ban the 0:19:53.960 --> 0:19:55.600 sale of microchips to Russia. 0:19:55.960 --> 0:19:58.080 And how do they know that these are Dutch microchips. 0:19:59.080 --> 0:20:04.280 Well, when the weapons rain down from the sky into Ukraine, 0:20:04.760 --> 0:20:07.119 they break the weapons apart and they put out the microchip, 0:20:07.440 --> 0:20:10.480 and the microchip has the name of a Dutch manufacturer 0:20:10.560 --> 0:20:13.320 written on it. And this is actually brought as evidence 0:20:13.400 --> 0:20:17.360 recently to the Hague there were microchips in Russian weapons 0:20:17.440 --> 0:20:20.959 from two Dutch firms. Basically, what's going on is that 0:20:21.119 --> 0:20:26.600 third party countries are legitimately buying these microchips and then 0:20:26.760 --> 0:20:32.679 exporting them to Russia. These countries include Thailand, Turkey, and 0:20:32.800 --> 0:20:34.399 of course China. 0:20:35.160 --> 0:20:35.680 Huh. 0:20:36.160 --> 0:20:42.200 China has a semiconductor manufacturer headquartered in the Netherlands. What 0:20:43.200 --> 0:20:47.240 which just this week was seized. The company was taken 0:20:47.280 --> 0:20:49.720 over by the Dutch government. 0:20:50.359 --> 0:20:55.439 The Dutch government has taken over a Chinese factory in 0:20:55.640 --> 0:20:56.680 the Netherlands. 0:20:57.119 --> 0:21:01.200 That's right. How there is a law in the Netherlands 0:21:01.320 --> 0:21:05.480 called the Goods Availability Act, and this allows the government 0:21:05.520 --> 0:21:10.040