The founder of Palantir came to Rome to give secret lectures on the Antichrist

American technology billionaire, co-founder of PayPal and Palantir Peter Thiel will hold a series of private lectures on the Antichrist in Rome starting Sunday, March 15, wrote the Financial Times. Information about these events is kept secret - not even the venue is disclosed. Recording of the lectures is forbidden, and some invitees are asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement, the edition writes with reference to the organizers.

A representative for the entrepreneur did not respond to requests for comment.

Thiel is concerned about the risk of the emergence of a "one world totalitarian state" that will hinder scientific and technological progress. He characterizes supporters of technology regulation as harbingers of the Antichrist, writes the FT.

In 2025, Thiel gave a similar lecture in San Francisco. Tickets cost $200 and sold out in a matter of hours, The Guardian reported. The publication managed to get a recording of the lecture from one of the listeners, and Thiel's representative did not deny its authenticity. According to the recording, the businessman claims that a certain figure (according to Thiel, the "Antichrist") will cultivate public fear of existential threats such as climate change, artificial intelligence and nuclear war, and will persuade people to do everything possible to avoid something like World War III, including limiting technological progress.

One sign that the "anti-Christ" may be amassing power, Thiel called the growing difficulty in hiding capital in tax havens because of decisions by international financial organizations, The Guardian wrote. "It has become quite difficult to hide your money," the publication quoted the businessman as saying.

Thiel's views stand in stark contrast to those of Pope Leo XIV, the first American pontiff in the history of the Catholic Church. He has previously warned of the dangers of artificial intelligence and called for stricter regulation to minimize its risks. At the same time, the Pope emphasized that his call is not aimed at inhibiting innovation, but rather at "guiding it and recognizing its dual nature."

On the eve of the lectures, the Catholic newspaper Avvenire criticized Thiel and Palantir, saying that "to save humanity <...> he promotes devices that ultimately limit what is most human in man." In another article, Avvenire described Palantir as "the Big Brother who makes Orwell's prophecies pale."

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor