THIEL'S 4 LEAKED ROME LECTURES: AI SAFETYISM AS ANTICHRIST FORERUNNER, BILL GATES AS MR. HYDE, YUDKOWSKY VS GRETA The Verge, Oct 20. David Gibson reports on leaked recordings of all four of Peter Thiel's Rome lectures. The Verge went through every one. The labels are wild. -> Now The Verge reports what Thiel said behind closed doors. Effective altruism and AI "safetyism": forerunners of the Antichrist. Bill Gates: "Mr. Hyde". Eliezer Yudkowsky: "more Luddite than Greta". The lectures started in Rome on March 15, 2026. Four days, private audience. It is the third city. San Francisco came first, four parts from Sept 15, 2025, then Paris. Organizers per AP: the Cluny Institute at the Catholic University of America and the Vincenzo Gioberti Cultural Association. THIEL'S ARGUMENT ON AI SAFETYISM In plain words: the Antichrist would not arrive as a monster. He would arrive promising safety from technology, AI first, and take control of science in exchange. So in Thiel's frame, the people loudest about AI risk are the ones clearing the road. THE PUSHBACK FROM ROME Avvenire, the Italian bishops' paper: Thiel "does not believe humanity can be redeemed". Paolo Benanti, adviser to two popes on tech ethics: "Thiel is above all a political theologian". Italian lawmakers asked for transparency on the government's ties to Palantir, which Thiel co-founded and chairs. Caveat: these are quotes as The Verge reports them from leaked lectures. The full recordings are not public. What it shows: the AI safety debate is no longer engineers vs engineers. One of the biggest tech investors now argues it in theology, in Rome. A single AI risk warning is no longer just a policy position. In Thiel's lectures it becomes a sign of the end times ↓ Who sounds more dangerous to you: AI safetyism, or a billionaire calling it the Antichrist's road?