Peter Thiel, a billionaire investor, shared his views about the effective altruism movement on a podcast. He is critical of the movement, even comparing it to a cult, but he acknowledges that they were correct about one important thing: artificial intelligence (AI). Thiel explained that early effective altruists believed AI would be a major change for society and could even be misused. He noted that during a time when AI seemed unlikely to develop, these thinkers predicted its arrival and impact more accurately than others did. He also mentioned that some successful companies, like Anthropic, are connected to effective altruism, suggesting that the movement has had a significant influence. Overall, while Thiel critiques the movement, he concedes that their insights about AI were spot on, stating, "AI is around the corner."
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