In a recent interview, US Vice President J. D. Vance demonstrated a disturbing indifference to the possibility that his actions could lead to an apocalypse. He told a Christian podcaster that he tries to do as much of God's work as possible, and if this leads to the end times, it is acceptable, showing no hint of irony.
Vance's career is largely tied to technology billionaire and Palantir founder Peter Thiel. Thiel describes himself as a 'mildly unorthodox Christian' and is known for his obsessive hunt for the Antichrist, who, in his view, will trigger the apocalypse. Their first meeting took place in 2011 when Vance attended Thiel's talk as a student, which he later called 'the most significant moment of my time at Yale Law School' and which convinced him to pursue a career in technology.
In 2015, Vance began working at Thiel's venture firm, Mithril Capital, and later received financial backing from Thiel to co-found the venture fund Narya Capital. Like Palantir and Mithril, Narya Capital is named after the book 'The Lord of the Rings.' When Vance entered politics, Thiel donated $15 million to his Senate campaign in 2022 and allegedly helped secure Trump's approval.
Thiel amassed his fortune by co-founding PayPal with billionaire Elon Musk, owner of X. In his closed lectures, Thiel claimed that the Antichrist would be a 'Luddite who wants to stop all science,' citing 23-year-old climate and Palestine activist Greta Thunberg as an example.
Accelerationism
In the book 'Nerd Reich,' Gil Duran traces the influence of the book 'Individual Sovereign: How to Survive and Thrive During the Collapse of the Welfare State' on Thiel. This book argues that democracy is obsolete in the technological age, and this transformation should be 'welcomed, accelerated, and exploited by the knowledgeable elite of investors.'
This phenomenon is known as accelerationism—an ideology based on white supremacy that views violence as a necessary way to catalyze inevitable societal collapse and begin a new world order: apocalyptic eugenics, which will become a utopia for those deemed strong and worthy of survival, and a dystopia for everyone else.
Dr. Donald Campbell of Foxglove Legal stated: 'The reality is that American tech giants are causing real harm to people and the planet right now.' Thiel called technology an 'incredible alternative to politics' and declared, 'I no longer believe that freedom and democracy are compatible.'
Billionaires have begun preparing for this future by investing in underground bunkers and far-right parties seeking to create fortified ethnic states. Musk has collaborated with far-right political movements in 18 countries, fueling narratives of civilizational replacement during rallies from Germany to the UK, and used the acquisition of X, formerly Twitter, to amplify right-wing voices.
Palantir technology is already being used to monitor migrants for deportation in the US and facilitate mass surveillance and targeted actions against Palestinians in Israel's interest, and it has been implemented in vital services such as the NHS in the UK. The ultra-right party Reform in Britain, which recently received a record donation of £72 million from two crypto billionaires, aims to create an ICE-style agency to control the deportation of illegal immigrants.
Former Reform policy chief James Orr, who was recently forced out following a secret investigation showing how he allegedly tried to circumvent election laws, has ties to Thiel and conducted his lectures on the Antichrist in Cambridge. Musk also funds science fiction fantasies about extraterrestrial life on Mars and the capture of humanity by transhumanist AI.
Others are investing in building artificial islands or 'freedom cities'—tax-free and unregulated havens managed by AI robots and funded by cryptocurrency, amidst global instability caused by endless war and climate change, leading to mass displacement and deprivation. Thiel himself moved to Argentina, led by libertarian and staunchly pro-Israel President Javier Milei, who swore to 'destroy' the state from within. According to a website leak, Thiel invited many wealthy and influential people worldwide to secret retreats of the 'Dialogue' society, where panel discussions ranged from cult creation to preparation for World War III.
As these influential figures devise ways to save themselves into a technological utopia while the real world moves toward climate collapse and global conflict, they continue to profit from fossil fuel and arms industries that actively create these crises.
Judeo-Christian Ethnonationalism
Although Vance unites seemingly incompatible groups of Silicon Valley Christian alt-right and libertarians, his interview touched upon a shared vision of the coming apocalypse, where some will be saved and others condemned. Research by James Piazza showed that Christian nationalists with apocalyptic tendencies are more likely to exhibit negative attitudes towards social groups, reject norms of civil dialogue and democracy, and normalize political violence against opponents.
While apocalyptic ideas have long been a hidden current in American society among evangelicals, Piazza told Middle East Eye that Christian nationalists and Christian Zionists have become more influential in recent years and now 'represent a mainstream political force,' including figures such as US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee and War Minister Pete Hegset.
Christian Zionists, like Huckabee and Hegset, advocate for the return of Jews to the Holy Land—which encompasses Israel and territories in the occupied West Bank, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan—to fulfill biblical prophecies and usher in the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. At the same time, Israel represents precisely the kind of high-tech theocracy that Christian nationalists want to replicate in the US.
Huckabee described Israel as 'a land given by God... to the people He chose' and stated he would be 'satisfied' with its expansion almost across the entire Middle East. During the Pentagon's first worship service after the start of the war with Iran, Hegset prayed for 'overwhelming violence' against America's enemies, while US military commanders reportedly told troops that the war with Iran 'is part of God's divine plan,' supported by biblical prophecies of the 'end times.'
According to Piazza's explanation, for Christian nationalists, the idea of apocalypse is 'predetermined,' therefore inevitable, and thus should be welcomed rather than resisted.
AI: God or Armageddon?
In his book 'Empire of AI,' technology journalist Karen Hao argues that a quasi-religious cult has formed in Silicon Valley around the mythical development of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). In 2014, Musk told MIT students that AI 'invokes a demon' and is 'our greatest existential threat.' OpenAI CEO Sam Altman called AI a 'genie that can grant any wish,' noting that it 'will likely lead to the end of the world, but great companies will be built in the meantime.' Thiel famously wavered when asked whether he believed humanity should survive.
Last week, Altman, Musk, and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei agreed to an industry-wide slowdown after a number of whistleblowers raised concerns that AI could destroy humanity within the next decade. OpenAI approached Congress asking to bypass antitrust legislation regulating market competition and postponed its IPO this year, citing security issues.
Professor Lee Vincent from the University of Virginia told MEE that 'this is a very convenient moment to broadcast this message of 'slowdown',' given the shaky economic position of the companies. All AI companies are currently losing money, except Nvidia, which sells infrastructure and finances unprofitable firms supported through circular deals inflating the AI bubble.
Technology proved less transformative than expected, as companies rehired employees after failing to achieve promised productivity gains through AI adoption. Vincent coined the term 'criti-hype' to describe how tech critics can exaggerate capabilities, confirming industry claims and boosting stock prices. Vincent told MEE that pessimism is an effective marketing tool because it appeals to our 'deep cultural scenarios' from science fiction and religious tropes about the end of the world.
Now
Instead of simply criticizing, the companies themselves are broadcasting the apocalyptic potential of AI, turning this technology 'into a kind of messiah' for some. Professor Robert Geraci, a specialist in religion, science, and technology, told MEE: 'Silicon Valley has adopted techno-religion, which merges science fiction, century-old transhumanist aspirations... and American apocalyptic Christian brands.'
Geraci noted that although superintelligence is technically not impossible, their vision is 'deeply religious' and 'not rooted in strict logic or economics,' relying on 'exponential growth curves' and profit, ignoring the reality that 'all systems have limits.' Eric Salvaggio, a researcher at Tech Policy Press, told MEE: '[AGI] has no specific definition or criteria, so people can fantasize about monsters or angels hiding in the void.'
In a 2025 paper, Salvaggio, along with experts from industry, politics, and academia, argued that while AI investment is heavily focused on the promises of machine superintelligence, the ability of current systems to realize such goals is questionable. Mona Sloan, an associate professor of data science and media studies at the University of Virginia, reiterated that while unregulated AI poses dangers, 'the idea of 'AI existential risk' is a deliberately movable target.'
She added to MEE: 'When there is such a level of uncertainty, we cling to familiar narrative structures—in the case of machines and automation, this is the connection between utopia and dystopia or boomers and doomers.' Sloan also reported that 'many influential players in the AI world believe in the determinism of technology,' revealing 'their dark and narrow understanding of humans as having no will,' conveniently absolving themselves of responsibility. 'The existence of this threat always keeps those who created AI systems in their powerful position, even when these systems become commonplace and lose their magical aura—as is happening with AI.'
War Against Life on Earth
Last week, one of America's leading credit rating agencies warned that if markets lose faith in the industry's ability to generate investment returns, it could trigger a major crash, likely leading to a recession in the US, which would affect the global economy. Claims that AI 'will take all our jobs' may be exaggerated, but a crash caused by inflated valuations could certainly lead to mass unemployment.
There are also environmental threats from energy-intensive data centers amid worsening climate change, as well as social consequences, ranging from cognitive decline to mental health issues, alongside concerns about autonomous weapons and cybersecurity. Donald Campbell, advocacy director at the human rights group Foxglove, told MEE: 'The reality is that American tech giants are causing real harm to people and the planet right now.' He added: 'What is clear about tech billionaires is their astonishing indifference to the human suffering caused by their companies and platforms—and their determination to ensure the absence of laws or regulations that could impede them.'
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