Juan Grabois Meets Peter Thiel: Artificial Intelligence, the Antichrist, Universal Income, and Argentina's Role

Juan Grabois revealed details on Tuesday about the private meeting he had with the German-American billionaire Peter Thiel, one of the leading figures of the global tech elite, who has been living in Argentina since the beginning of the year. The social leader disclosed that the conversation covered topics ranging from the regulation of artificial intelligence and universal basic income to the encyclicals of Leo XIII, the Antichrist, and Argentina's role on the international map. "I went to understand how the circus works," he explained, discussing the reasons that led him to meet with the founder of Palantir and co-creator of PayPal alongside Elon Musk, in an interview with Radio con Vos. "It's better to meet with the owner rather than the gorillas," emphasized the former head of the Union of Workers of the Popular Economy (UTEP), highlighting: "One must know how to meet with the humblest of cartoneros and with the highest international curia." The meeting took place in the mansion that the businessman bought in Barrio Parque, where he has been living since April of this year, a property that exceeds 1,600 m2, featuring six bedrooms, spacious living rooms, and a wine cellar. Thiel settled in Argentina to firsthand experience the libertarian movement represented by Javier Milei, with whom he has met several times at Casa Rosada. The leader indicated that the purpose of the meeting was to analyze Thiel's reaction to the recent encyclical from Pope Leo, which presents a strong critique of current technological paradigms. "Understanding this debate and what is happening is the most important thing at this historical moment," he explained. In reference to those who criticized him for the meeting, he added: "Missing the opportunity to interact with the main organic intellectual and a member of the Silicon Valley elite is an astronomical stupidity." During the conversation, Grabois presented his worldview based on Catholic-Christian humanism with strong state participation through regulation, a paradigm that clashes with the position of techno-feudalists, embodied in Thiel, who question democracy as a system of representation and propose an economic model with no state intervention and strong dependence on corporations. The social leader stated that Thiel expressed disagreement with the implementation of a universal basic income to address the job losses that artificial intelligence will generate, a proposal that is even supported by other billionaires from Silicon Valley like Sam Altman, co-founder of Open AI. Nevertheless, he revealed that "he found it an interesting idea to work on," so he did not close the door on an alternative solution. For Grabois, the dispute is between a technocratic paradigm from Silicon Valley, which imposes no limits on accumulation; a humanist paradigm that seeks wealth distribution, and the Chinese model. He stated that these are the three civilizational projects currently relevant and in constant tension. In this regard, he spoke about the papal encyclical from Leo XIII, which, in his opinion, marks "a very strong break with the paradigm they propose, with the accelerationist, deregulating, and transhumanist approach" promoted by techno-feudalists. In this sense, he expressed that Thiel associates any form of global regulation with an apocalyptic threat to the system of freedoms. A recurring theme throughout the conversation with the businessman was regulation. "They are existentially crossed with this issue," he said regarding Thiel's outright refusal to any state intervention, no matter how minimal, in the economy, outright dismissing even a review of the development of Artificial Intelligence. From the perspective of the German-American, limiting AI

A would slow down or hinder humanity's evolution towards transhumanism, a stage in which technology would allow transcending the biological limits of the human species. International progressivism, which promotes equitable development through wealth distribution via state regulation, is considered by a sector of the tech elite as the antichrist. "We are talking about very intelligent people. They are not stupid. They are influential. They say that Greta Thunberg represents the antichrist. It is not nonsense from their perspective because Greta proposes global regulation, for example, on environmental issues. And to stop the processes of cognitive and environmental destruction that threaten freedom, truth, and the work generated by this elite, there must be global regulations; they cannot be local," he said. For Grabois, the meeting is also significant given Thiel's influence and profile in the tech elite and the fears regarding the consequences of deepening the model embodied by the owner of Palantir. He stated that the current course could bring severe social effects that might eventually trigger social reactions against the techno-feudalists. "The proposal is not so crazy because this level of concentration is totally unsustainable, and there will be a reaction from the people against that. And they perceive that reaction as persecution," he explained. In another part of the radio talk, he insisted on highlighting that the accumulation of wealth by tech magnates is incompatible with any democratic logic. "Someone has a billion dollars. These are figures that we cannot cognitively imagine. That is not sustainable. There will be a reaction from the people, or they will triumph and become the masters of the planet, or there will be regulations and a global tax reform," he proposed. At the end of the radio interview, Grabois referred to Argentina as a "laboratory" for tech elites. "The problem is not only the delivery of resources but also the ethical and social impact of allowing uncontrolled technological developments in the country," he said, referring to the libertarian model promoted by Javier Milei.

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