2025-06-27T12:05:01z
- Peter Thiel said there is “complete stagnation” in technological advancements without AI.
- The billionaire investor told the “Interesting Times” podcast that nothing else has happened to the technology.”
- Thiel wants to see him take more risks in areas such as traveling to Mars and curing dementia.
Billionaire investor Peter Thiel considers AI to be just as transformative as the internet in the late 1990s, but said it's not enough to end the “stagnation” in technological advancements.
Speaking about the New York Times' “Interesting Times” podcast, Tiel said when asked how big the AI was, his “silly answer” was “more than an empty burger” but “less than a complete change in our society.”
In a 2011 essay, the PayPal co-founder argued that technological advancements in areas such as energy and transportation have slowed since the 1970s, causing a general stagnation despite advances in areas such as computers and the Internet.
Thiel told the “Interesting Era” podcast that he still “widely believes in stagnant papers,” and that without AI “nothing would have happened.”
Thiel invests in AI companies such as Openai, Palantir and Deepmind before being acquired by Google.
AI adds to GDP “may be enough to create a great company,” but Thiel said “I'm not sure if it's not enough to actually end the stagnation.”
Thiel said he wanted to see “more risks” taken on missions like going to Mars and creating dementia treatments.
“We still should try AI and I think the alternative is a complete stagnation,” he said.
“If I can't find a way back to the future, I think I'm thinking about society. I don't know. It's unleashed, it won't work,” added Thiel.
