some middle rat history, w/clarifications: 1) I should have titled my previous "AI Safety Is Mostly A Sex Cult In Berkeley, California" so people would stop arguing with me about people who aren't in Berkeley, California. 2) The sex cult part of this is both predatory and integral to what they do.
Sep 18, 2026 at 2:33 AM
Beware of AI Sex Cult In SF and Berkeley
531 votes, 156 comments. Hi, salacious title, I know. I’m linking articles from Time Magazine and the SF Standard And here is a thread with LOTS of…
AI Safety Is Mostly A Sex Cult In Berkeley, California
We might some day have “AI Safety”, as a science or policy area, that is not primarily a sex cult in Berkeley, California, but it does not currently exist.
AI Safety Is Mostly A Sex Cult In Berkeley, California
These people shouldn’t make policy.
Reflecting On a Few Very, Very Strange Years In Silicon Valley's Rape Culture
On rape culture in Silicon Valley and its subcultures: Rationalism, Effective Altruism, TPOT, and Vibecamp. Also the informal rules that dictate how women are allowed to talk about sexual violence.
Study Featuring AI-Generated Giant Rat Penis Retracted, Journal Apologizes
A peer-reviewed study featured nonsensical AI images including a giant rat penis in the latest example of how generative AI has seeped into academia.
In Defense of Thinking - Cal Newport
Ten years ago, I published Deep Work. It was my second mainstream hardcover idea book. The previous title, So Good They Can’t Ignore You, hadn’t ... Read more
Effective Altruism Is a Dangerous Cult — Here's Why
Understanding the "Scientology of Silicon Valley." (7,700 words)
Germ Theory: Why We Chose a Provocative Name for a Safer Messenger — Germ Network
Our company name Germ Network emerged from a brainstorm off of the word “grassroots.” Embracing complex systems and autonomous coordination, it names a network that will grow from the ground up, rather than be delegated from the top down. As germination, it evokes the root systems, mushrooms, and rh
Further Notes on Rape Culture in AI Social Circles
On the Red Means No rape-roleplay party and how it relates to AI/safetyist culture.
#773: Regressing to the mean
Plus: slop wildlife, the post-American internet and AI for emotional labor
Anatomy of a Nature AI article
Edgy first paragraph in bold text saying something gently provocative but essentially brainless.
Biological Sex is a social construct
I recently tweeted, as an aside, that biological sex is a social construct, and the backlash and attacks were swift, incredulous and heavily reliant upon very basic biology. There is a common perce…
SPECIAL REPORT Last month, Alpha School invited people to follow student social media accounts "if curious about life in our high schools." I accepted their offer. What I've found shocks me. Forget the AI and ask instead: Is Alpha Schools a cult? Follow along for a summary of my findings.
SPECIAL REPORT: My So-Called Alpha School
buildcognitiveresonance.substack.comRationalist Cults
Articles on rationalist-adjacent cults: the Zizians, Leverage Research, and the darker outgrowths of the rationalist / LessWrong-derived / Aella polycule scene that is behind "AI Safety" in Silicon Valley. Working thesis: MIRI and CFAR read as high-control groups (cults) who believe in P(DOOM) and use sex (and power) maliciously — yet they are unfortunately the ones who have captured the framing of "AI Safety," which has little to do with actual safety.
The Effective Altruism Kids Aren’t Alright
My Experience with Leverage Research
What Policymakers and the Public Need to Know About the Cult of AI
banteg (@banteg)
The Techno-Religion at the Center of the A.I. Debate
SE Gyges (@segyges.bsky.social)
