Venture capitalists erected their industry on the altar of profits, with perhaps a dash of rationalism. There is an element of faith needed to power their belief that taking flyers on early-stage companies can lead to billions—the Silicon Valley version of prosperity gospel. Still, it would be hard to argue that venture capital is a religious practice.
That seems to be changing. The tech industry is engaged in its own personal grail quest—the hunt for AGI, or artificial general intelligence—as engineers and investors become increasingly convinced they can mold their own version of God out of code. And amid the fervor, Peter Thiel is hosting a series of lectures in San Francisco on the Antichrist. The first was this week.
