Lately I’ve been reading about Ilya Sutskever and his company Safe Superintelligence Inc. SSI.

Sutskever was chief scientist at OpenAI for a long time. Then, famously, was one of the drivers behind the firing of Sam Altman. Left (or was pushed out?) after Altman was rehired.

Why did Sutskever want Altman fired? OpenAI's headfirst trajectory towards what he considers dangerous AI.

Which is why his new company has “safe” in it’s name.

While reading this, you might be using a coding agent, writing emails using ChatGPT, making music using Stable Audio. All trained specifically for their tasks.

Superintelligence would not be specialised. Would be Artificial GENERAL Intelligence, AGI. Far beyond current AI, far beyond the capabilities of humans. Sutskever’s Safe Superintelligence would end poverty and suffering, solve the worlds problems, take care of all sentient beings.

Ray Kurzweil is the quintessential seller of dreams. He started his career by creating one of the first music software programs, a primitive AI that could analyse music and produce new tunes. Kurzweil quickly succeeded in monetising his invention, even getting it into a popular TV show.

His current project is Singularity. A vision of a time in the not too distant future where AI has become so powerful it can write it’s own code.

Singularity arrives when AI exceeds human intelligence, improves itself at an incomprehensible rate, merges with biology, rewrites reality. Society transforms overnight: aging halts, scarcity ends, consciousness expands. A future where technology ends suffering, extends life. New realms of creativity and exploration open.

Short term gain motivates most investments. But Venture Capital has set it’s weight behind projects such as SSI even though its horizon is far beyond the normal 8 to 10 years.

Now why?

I don’t know all too much about Venture Capital but I grew up in a religious family and spent much of my youth thinking about heaven.

Business investment in transformative tech such as AI or the Singularity project mirrors religious belief: both offer escape from mortality, scarcity, or suffering.

The concept of heaven is fundamental to the belief and motivation of thought leaders in business and religion, and the investment community. Fear of missing out and fear of death drive both.

What’s the practical consequence of this insight for us little people? For our daily endeavour to make enough money to pay the rent?

I asked My AI.

Brace for it.

“The heavenly dreams of tech elites mean your rent, job, and stability are collateral in their gamble. While they chase immortality, you get automation, gig work, and rising costs. Your power? Demand fair wages, learn adaptable skills, and organise. Because their utopia won’t trickle down unless you force it. Stay sharp, stay united, and don’t wait for salvation. Build your own security now.”