How Silicon Valley Learned to Love Killer Robots
This article critiques Silicon Valley leaders like Elon Musk and Sam Altman for viewing science fiction as a blueprint for technological development rather than a cautionary tale. The author argues that this misinterpretation has led to the reckless pursuit of AI and robotics.
Why it matters
It highlights a growing cultural and ethical debate regarding the motivations and philosophical foundations of the tech industry's most influential figures.
Many of the tech billionaires who built our world have taken the wrong lessons from their favorite science fiction.
Illustration by Matteo Giuseppe Pani / The Atlantic* August 31, 2026, 8 AM ET Share Save A fter reading Jill Lepore’s The Rise and Fall of the Artificial State , I have a new destination for a time machine, should I ever finally get my hands on one. I’d set the dial to some night in the late 1970s or ’80s and visit the boyhood rooms of the Silicon Valley titans Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, and Sam Altman. Then I’d confiscate all of their science fiction. Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, Robert Heinlein—all of it.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in