The movement's chief prophet: predicts the Singularity by 2045 and "longevity escape velocity," takes daily supplements and is signed up for cryonics. Left Google in 2025 for Chief AI Officer at Beyond Imagination , a humanoid-robotics firm he co-founded in 2013. His 2024 The Singularity Is Nearer restates the creed. Updated 08-16
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The academic keystone; Superintelligence (2014) put AI risk on the map. His Oxford Future of Humanity Institute closed in 2024 ; he now runs the Macrostrategy Research Initiative and imagines a "solved world." FHI closed 2024 ⚠︎ Re-checked 2026-10-08: FHI shut down April 2024; he is Principal Researcher at the Macrostrategy Research Initiative. Age wrong: born 1973-03-10, so 53 (since 2026-03-10), not 52. Sources: Superintelligence (2014); Deep Utopia (2024) 'solved world': https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Deep-Utopia/Nick-Bostrom/9781646871643.
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The bearded face of anti-aging, who calls death by aging a curable "disease." President and chief scientist of the LEV Foundation (founded 2022 after leaving SENS), funding whole-body rejuvenation in mice.
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The man who gave the movement its modern name: his 1990 essay defined "transhumanism," and his Extropy Institute set its optimist creed. Ran the Alcor cryonics foundation 2010–2020.
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Founder of SiriusXM and a biotech empire, and prophet of digital immortality : her Terasem movement backs "mindclones" and mind-uploading, and built the android BINA48. Virtually Human is its gospel.
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Helped popularize the term "artificial general intelligence," and now runs the blockchain AI network SingularityNET, openly aiming to midwife a benevolent superintelligence.
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Author of the 1982 Transhumanist Manifesto and long-time leader (now President Emerita) of Humanity+, the movement's flagship body. The designer of transhumanism as a culture, not just a thesis.
Re-checked 2026-10-08 · holdsCo-founded the World Transhumanist Association with Bostrom (1998). His "abolitionism" preaches a moral duty to end all suffering — in every sentient creature — through biotech. The movement's utilitarian saint.
Re-checked 2026-10-08 · holdsBioethicist and executive director of the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies; champion of "democratic transhumanism" — enhancement for all, not just the rich. Writing a Cyborg Buddha .
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The movement's political showman: founded the Transhumanist Party , drove a coffin-shaped "Immortality Bus," and has run for president and governor. Ended a 2026 California run before the primary. Ran 2026 ⚠︎ Re-checked 2026-10-08: Ended 2026 California governor run before the primary (cited X post 2026-02-24) - holds. Age wrong: born 1973-03-30, so 53, not 52. Sources: Immortality Bus (coffin-shaped): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immortality_Bus.
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The movement's polymath researcher — whole-brain-emulation roadmaps, "grabby aliens," and existential-risk math. A long-time fixture of Bostrom's shuttered Oxford institute.
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The leading serious advocate of whole-brain emulation — scanning a mind and running it on other "substrate." Founder of carboncopies.org, dedicated to substrate-independent minds.
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The engineer who implanted chips in his own arm and linked his nervous system to a computer to "become a cyborg" — the movement's original self-experimenter, now emeritus at Coventry.
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The central figure of the AI age; his OpenAI chases AGI, and he personally seeded the anti-aging firm Retro Biosciences with $180M . Won the Musk v. Altman trial in April 2026. Verified 07-24 ⚠︎ Re-checked 2026-10-08: Still OpenAI CEO; born 1985-04-22, age 41 holds. Date fix: trial began 2026-04-27 but the jury verdict for OpenAI/Altman (Musk claims time-barred) came 2026-05-18, not April 2026. Self-check: text says April 2026 but verdict came 2026-05-18; verdict date wins. Sources: $180M into Retro: https://www.fortune.com/2023/03/08/sam-altman-openai-chatgpt-life-extension-aging-startup; born 1985-04-22 (41): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Altman. LIVE: Musk said he would appeal to the Ninth Circuit after the 2026-05-18 verdict (Bloomberg 2026-05-20, https://prod.cm.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2026-05-20/musk-v-altman-fight-heads-to-appeal-with-core-claims-untested); xAI appeal reported pending; antitrust claims still being briefed into late 2026.
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Won the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for AlphaFold, which solved protein folding; knighted; now builds AI to "cure all disease" via Isomorphic Labs. The builder closest to remaking biology. Nobel 2024 ⚠︎ Re-checked 2026-10-08: On 2026-08-05 Google announced Hassabis stepped aside as DeepMind CEO to become its Chair and Alphabet Chief Scientist (still leads Isomorphic); Koray Kavukcuoglu became SVP running GDM. Multiple outlets agree; deepmind.google/about is stale. Also born 1976-07-27, so 50 not 49. Sources: Nobel 2024; knighted 2024; born 1976-07-27: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demis_Hassabis.
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The transhumanist-in-deed: Neuralink puts chips in human brains (first implants underway) and xAI builds Grok to reach "superintelligence." The richest man alive, betting on merger with machines. ⚠︎ Re-checked 2026-10-08: Born 1971-06-28, so 55, not 54. xAI became a subsidiary of SpaceX in 2026. Still world's richest (Forbes ~US$1T, Oct 2026). Sources: Neuralink human implants underway (3rd patient Jan 2025): https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-01-11/musk-says-neuralink-implanted-third-patient-with-brain-device.
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Runs the safety-focused lab Anthropic; his 2024 essay Machines of Loving Grace envisions AI compressing a century of medical progress into a decade — the builders' most explicit immortality pitch.
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Builds the compute the whole project runs on : Nvidia's chips train every frontier model, and in 2025 it became the first company worth $5 trillion. No Nvidia, no Singularity.
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In 2025 he founded Meta Superintelligence Labs and spent billions poaching top researchers to chase AGI directly — turning the world's largest social network toward building a mind. Superintelligence push 2025 ⚠︎ Re-checked 2026-10-08: MSL founded 2025-06-30 holds; Zuckerberg still CEO. Age wrong: born 1984-05-14, so 42, not 41. Sources: born 1984-05-14: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Zuckerberg; huge pay packages to poach AI researchers: https://www.forbes.com.au/news/innovation/can-meta-hire-its-way-to-superintelligence/.
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Co-founder of DeepMind, now runs Microsoft's consumer AI (Copilot). His book The Coming Wave warns that AI and synthetic biology are an unstoppable, double-edged tide. ⚠︎ Re-checked 2026-10-08: Still CEO of Microsoft AI. Born August 1984, so 42, not 41. Sources: The Coming Wave (2023): https://www.penguin.co.uk/authors/293556/mustafa-suleyman.
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The deep-learning architect who left OpenAI to found Safe Superintelligence Inc. — a company with one product: a safe superintelligence, "and nothing else until then." Valued near $32B.
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The tech founder who turned his own body into an experiment — a $2M-a-year regimen to reverse aging under the banner "Don't Die," which he is building into a movement and religion-of-sorts. ⚠︎ Re-checked 2026-10-08: Born 1977-08-22, so 49, not 48. ~$2M/yr was the 2023 figure; Blueprint has had a separate CEO (Gyre Renwick) since July 2025.
Re-checked 2026-10-08 · CHANGEDRuns Altos Labs , the best-funded biotech ever ($3B from Bezos and Milner), chasing cellular reprogramming to rewind the age of a cell — the science that could make rejuvenation real.
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Leads Sam Altman's longevity bet, Retro Biosciences — valued at $1.8B in 2026 — aiming to add ten healthy years with cell and gene therapies, including a trial to reverse Alzheimer's. $1.8B, 2026 ⚠︎ Re-checked 2026-10-11: Still CEO of Retro Biosciences. But "$1.8B, 2026" is one profile's figure: 2026 valuations range from $1.8B to $5B+ (TrueUp $2.0B after a May 2026 round; Caplight/Dealroom $5B+), with no primary report.
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Neuralink co-founder now racing it with Science Corp , whose first implant (PRIMA) restores sight to the blind. Preparing its first human brain sensor; named to TIME100 Health 2026.
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The government scientist with the deck's most radical build: a $110M ARPA-H program to replace the aging brain, piece by piece, with young lab-grown tissue. Author of Replacing Aging . ARPA-H 2024 ⚠︎ Re-checked 2026-10-11: The $110M is not an awarded ARPA-H program budget. It is the estimated cost of primate trials for his proposal. ARPA-H recruited and backs him; the program he manages (FRONT) is officially framed as repairing damaged neocortex.
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The movement's ideological godfather ($27B): a PayPal/Palantir founder who calls death "the enemy," backs cryonics and life-extension, and bankrolls the tech-right that now surrounds the White House. Verified 07-24 ⚠︎ Re-checked 2026-10-08: Born 1967-10-11, age 58 holds until 2026-10-11. Net worth moved: Forbes US$37.7B as of Oct 2026, not $27B. Sources: signed up for cryonics: https://futurism.com/the-byte/peter-thiel-cryonics. UNSOURCED: calls death 'the enemy' (quote not found; he says he prefers to 'fight it').
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The richest backer of anti-aging science: seeded Altos Labs and earlier Unity Biotechnology. When Bezos ($280B) bets on reversing aging, the whole field re-prices.
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Oracle's co-founder, who has called mortality "incomprehensible" and poured hundreds of millions into aging research — now the $200M Ellison Institute for Transformative Medicine . ⚠︎ Re-checked 2026-10-08: Born 1944-08-17, so 82 (since 2026-08-17), not 81; Oracle executive chairman & CTO. The $200M (2016) USC Ellison Institute for Transformative Medicine was renamed Ellison Institute of Technology. UNSOURCED: mortality 'incomprehensible' quote.
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Alphabet spun up the secretive anti-aging lab Calico ; Brin himself has given over $1B to Parkinson's research after learning he carries a risk gene. Money aimed straight at biological fate. ⚠︎ Re-checked 2026-10-08: Born 1973-08-21, so 53 (since 2026-08-21), not 52. Over $1B to Parkinson's research confirmed (Forbes). Sources: carries LRRK2 Parkinson's risk mutation: https://www2.computerworld.com.au/article/261033/google_brin_blogs_says_he_predisposed_parkinson/. UNSOURCED: Calico tie to Brin personally.
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Facebook co-founder whose fortune, via Cari Tuna, is the engine of effective altruism — ~$5B given, much to AI-safety and longtermist causes. Open Philanthropy renamed Coefficient Giving in 2025. Renamed 2025
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Tech investor behind the Breakthrough Prize and an Altos backer; his Eureka Manifesto preaches humanity's cosmic mission and the internet becoming a "global brain."
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The venture kingmaker who wrote the 2023 "Techno-Optimist Manifesto," naming "existential risk" caution and "de-growth" as enemies. The ideology's loudest megaphone and its checkbook. ⚠︎ Re-checked 2026-10-08: Born 1971-07-09, so 55, not 54. Techno-Optimist Manifesto (Oct 2023) and a16z co-founder/GP hold. Sources: manifesto's enemies list incl. existential risk, de-growth: https://sfstandard.com/2023/10/17/marc-andreessen-manifesto-enemies-list-a16z-horowitz/.
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Turned his Skype fortune to existential risk : co-founded the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk and the Future of Life Institute, and was an early Anthropic backer. Funds the alarm and the build alike.
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The crypto founder who is longevity's largest single donor — tens of millions to anti-aging (SENS, Methuselah, the Arc Institute) and $665M to the Future of Life Institute . Coined "d/acc."
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The movement's impresario: founded XPRIZE, co-founded Singularity University with Kurzweil, and launched Human Longevity Inc and Fountain Life. Preaches "abundance" and the end of scarcity.
Re-checked 2026-10-08 · holdsGerman financier ($2.5B under management) who declares "aging is a disease" and founded Rejuveron and Cambrian Biopharma to cure it. A chief evangelist of "longevity biotech" as an asset class. ⚠︎ Re-checked 2026-10-08: Card says $2.5B under management. Directories now cite about $7B (attributed to Apeiron's own site), with older listings at $3B+ and $5B+. Figure moved; no dated primary source. Sources: co-founded/invested in Rejuveron and Cambrian; 'Ageing is a disease' (Esquire ME 2023 title): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Angermayer; Cambrian co-founder & chairman: https://longevity.technology/news/cambrian-biopharma-james-peyer-qa/.
Re-checked 2026-10-08 · CHANGEDThe Coinbase founder bankrolling NewLimit , his epigenetic-reprogramming startup — which raised $435M at a $3.1B valuation in 2026 and is heading for human trials to make old cells young. $3.1B, 2026
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Left MIT at 14 on a Thiel Fellowship to fund anti-aging; her Longevity Fund and new age1 fund back the field's young founders. The purest-play capital in the suit, and its youngest.
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Left Google in 2023 to warn that AI could "wipe out humanity" ; won the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics for the neural nets he pioneered. The field's own father turned its gravest witness. Nobel 2024
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Turing laureate who chaired the first International AI Safety Report (2025) and founded the nonprofit LawZero to build "honest" AI that watches for rogue agents. The scientist-conscience of the field. LawZero 2025 ⚠︎ Re-checked 2026-10-08: Born 1964-03-05, so 62, not 61. Founded Mila but was scientific director only until 2025; chairs the International AI Safety Report; launched LawZero June 2025. Sources: 2018 Turing Award laureate: https://www.acm.org/articles/bulletins/2019/march/turing-award-2018.
Re-checked 2026-10-08 · CHANGEDAuthor of the standard AI textbook and Human Compatible ; founded the Center for Human-Compatible AI and warns the AGI race is "a race toward the edge of a cliff."
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MIT physicist and FLI president who organized the 2023 open letter urging a pause on giant AI experiments ; author of Life 3.0 . Turns scientists' unease into public campaigns.
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The arch-doomer: founded the rationalist community and the Machine Intelligence Research Institute, and his 2025 book is titled, flatly, If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies. ⚠︎ Re-checked 2026-10-08: Born 1979-09-11, so 47 (since 2026-09-11), not 46. MIRI founder; If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies (with Nate Soares) published 2025-09-16. Sources: founded LessWrong 2009 (rationalist community): https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/topics/lesswrong.
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Philosopher of existential risk whose The Precipice tallies the odds of human extinction this century, and a founder of effective altruism and Giving What We Can.
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The face of longtermism ( What We Owe the Future ) and a founder of effective altruism — whose movement was shaken when its biggest donor, Sam Bankman-Fried, collapsed into fraud.
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Forced out of Google in 2020 over a paper on the risks of large language models; founded the DAIR institute and, with Torres, coined "TESCREAL" to name the ideology this whole deck maps.
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Once an insider, now called longtermism's "most vehement critic" ; co-coined "TESCREAL" and argues the movement's cosmic math can license real harm to real people now.
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The most persistent skeptic of AI hype — argues today's models "approximate language use, not understanding," and presses for regulation in Taming Silicon Valley (2024).
Re-checked 2026-10-08 · holdsA principal architect of RLHF (the technique that tamed chatbots), founder of the Alignment Research Center, who went to lead safety at the US government's AI institute at NIST. ⚠︎ Re-checked 2026-10-08: ARC's official team page lists Paul Christiano as Executive Director and President (Wikipedia dates the return to August 2026), so he no longer leads safety at NIST's AISI/CAISI; reported in Sept 2026 as only a technical adviser there. Sources: RLHF foundation paper (2017): https://arxiv.org/abs/1706.03741v1; was Head of Safety, US AISI at NIST (2024): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Christiano.
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Directs the Center for AI Safety, which drew Nobel laureates and CEOs to sign a one-sentence 2023 warning that AI extinction risk deserves priority beside pandemics and nuclear war. Advises xAI.
Re-checked 2026-10-08 · holdsAI-governance scholar at Georgetown's CSET, and the OpenAI board member who in November 2023 voted to remove Sam Altman over candor concerns — the boardroom face of the safety-vs-speed fight.
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