The Journal.
The Killing Spree Tied to a Silicon Valley Intellectual Movement
Mar 3, 2025
A chilling link emerges between a cult-like group of militant vegans and a series of shocking murders across the nation. The violent actions have ignited fear within Silicon Valley and expose the darker sides of a rationalist movement. The podcast reveals how ideological extremism can twist motivations related to AI safety, leading to disturbing confrontations and the emergence of radical figures. As tensions rise within the broader rationalist community, deeper questions about its structure and impacts on society arise.
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Quick takeaways
- The Zizians, a splinter group of militant vegans, illustrate the dangers of radical ideologies emerging from Silicon Valley's rationalist movement.
- The violent actions of the Zizians have led to significant introspection within the rationalist community regarding their openness and membership policies.
Deep dives
The Rise of the Zizians
Two homicides in a short span revealed an unexpected connection between alleged suspects, particularly their ties to a community of rationalists in the San Francisco Bay Area. Both suspects were computer scientists, vegans, and proponents of artificial intelligence safety, which initially seemed unrelated to their violent actions. The rationalist movement is characterized by its intellectual discussions on existential risk, with a goal of ensuring safe AI development, drawing significant attention in tech circles. However, the emergence of a faction known as the Zizians, led by an individual named Lasota, revealed a darker and more militant interpretation of these ideals that many within the rationalist community found unsettling.
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