The billionaire venture capitalist Marc Andreessen has just published his techno-optimistic manifesto, 5,200 words long, in which he makes several claims that will surprise many of you. But it’s worth reading them.
Among them, he claims that slowing down the development of AI is akin to committing murder, that technology can solve the world’s climate problems, and that the global population can easily grow to 50 billion before we set foot on Mars.
If you’re bored and want to read Andreessen’s complete manifesto, which consists of 15 parts written with line breaks akin to poems, here it is. Good luck, but we’ve read it for you.
An exciting future… but only if we halt the “sustainable ideas”
The work covers various topics, including the hot-button issue of AI. Andreessen believes that technology can address many causes of death, such as traffic accidents, pandemics, and friendly fire incidents.
There have been calls to slow down AI development and introduce stricter regulations in the industry; even OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, and Elon Musk agree that something must be done.
Andreessen, on the other hand, warns that any slowdown in AI will cost lives. “Preventable deaths due to AI not being allowed to exist are a form of murder,” he writes, after previously criticizing the possibility of the U.S. government regulating AI.
The investor continues to highlight sustainability, social responsibility, socialism, and risk management as enemies of technology and life, as part of a demoralization campaign. Yes, this person’s ideas don’t align with healthy societies, only with the capitalist system.
He also says, “Our enemies are not bad people but bad ideas,” although he seems quite upset with communists, Luddites, victim mentality, and “cartels.”
Technology above everything and everyone
Andreessen dismisses as “lies” the threats that technology poses to employment, wages, inequality, children, etc. While it is true that there are increasingly more studies showing that artificial intelligence will probably create more jobs than it replaces, generative AI tools are indeed costing people their jobs, as we have seen on several occasions.
“The myth of Prometheus – in various updated forms like Frankenstein, Oppenheimer, and Terminator – haunts our nightmares,” he writes.
The author also holds controversial views about the world population. He claims that the planet is dramatically underpopulated, a viewpoint contrary to many researchers, and that it could easily expand to 50 billion people or more before humanity establishes itself on other planets.
“We believe that the ultimate mission of technology is to advance life both on Earth and among the stars,” he says. “We are not primitives, cowering in fear of lightning,” writes Andreessen. “We are the ultimate predator; lightning works for us.”
The manifesto concludes by urging others to join the Techno-Optimism revolution. Andreessen emphasizes that the opinions expressed are his own and not those of his venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz or its affiliates. Thankfully, indeed.
