Elon Musk and Peter Thiel want to kill all humans.
Posted by Robinson's Podcast, Checked
- Sources
- 6 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 60%
Robinson's PodcastSep 23, 2026
The claim departs from the passage: the speaker says it is hard for him to imagine Musk and Thiel wanting to wipe out humanity, calling it 'entirely possible' without asserting it. None of the sources shows either man wanting to kill all humans, and the sources that address Thiel's views on AI doom describe risk debates, not intent to kill.
The guest raises this as a question. Shown here; not scored.
This claim is about the present, so it is judged as of the day it was checked.
What was said
… Yeah, it's maybe, it's uh, the fact that I'm kind of, uh, an inherently empathetic person, but it is hard for me to imagine, even though I know it is the case, that there are people who are evil enough out there who would be very happy to kill all humans. I, I can totally believe that you're right, that somebody like Elon Musk would like to be a god and would like to be immortal and would like to be all powerful, but the idea of wiping out all humanity is just so terrifying and hard for me to really imagine that people like Elon Musk or Peter Thiel, ah, do feel that way, even though it is, of course, entirely possible that they do. Well, didn't you see the interview with Ross Dowdat, when Ross Dowdat asked Peter Thiel if humanity should survive, and then Dowdat was like, "You're taking a long time to answer that question"? …
Robinson's Podcast · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Context. The passage is the claimant's own speculation: he says it is 'hard for me to really imagine' that Musk or Thiel feel this way and that he is 'charitable' about Thiel's pause, so the post does not assert the claim as fact.
Context. Reporting on Thiel's Antichrist lectures describes his concern that an Antichrist-like figure could emerge and create a one-world government, not a desire to kill humanity.[1]
Context. Podcast notes on Thiel say he considers the idea that AI will destroy humanity a false proposition, which cuts against the claim, though this is a secondary summary rather than an authoritative record.[2]
Context. Commentary on the tech elite's views of extinction and transhumanism (for example Thiel's probability estimates of catastrophe and Musk's AI warnings) describes stated risk views, not a plan or wish to kill all humans, and no fact-checker examined this claim.[3][4][5][6]
Sources
6 sources: 1 fact-checker, 5 not rated
- 1Peter Thiel in talk on 'Antichrist' says he told Elon Musk not ...reuters.com · fact-checker · cited for: context
- 2Podcast Notes | Conversation with Peter Thiel...chaincatcher.com · not rated · cited for: context
- 3Listener Numbers, Contacts, Similar Podcasts - The Buildersrephonic.com · not rated · cited for: context
- 4Tech oligarchs fear only death, taxes, and Greta Thunbergenglish.elpais.com · not rated · cited for: context
- 5The first men to conquer death will create a new social ordernewstatesman.com · not rated · cited for: context
- 6Will AI really lead to human extinction? An AI researcher ...cheekmedia.substack.com · not rated · cited for: context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
Related claims
- Tech billionaires want to replace humanity with AI and render the vast majority of humans superfluous.Can’t tell
- Peter Thiel hesitated when asked by Ross Douthat if humanity should survive.True
- Billionaires are engineering a replacement of humanity by AI agents.Can’t tell
- Elon Musk sells user data.True
- Elon Musk purchased Twitter because he viewed it as a threat to his power.Can’t tell