Bryan Johnson, the 47-year-old multimillionaire renowned for his quest to defeat aging, has announced plans to start a new religion called “Don’t Die” that reveres the human body as a deity. Johnson has already translated his mission into merchandise, events, and a forthcoming Netflix documentary, making him a prominent figure in the longevity space. At a recent longevity event in Berkeley, California, Johnson emphasized the importance of aligning artificial intelligence with the goal of preserving human life, highlighting his growing influence in both technology and self-improvement cultures.
In parallel, robotics and Artificial Intelligence experts are urging industry observers to temper expectations about humanoid robots’ widespread adoption. Despite growing investments—such as Figure AI’s anticipated large-scale funding and pilot projects at companies like Amazon—leading researcher Daniela Rus recently dispelled the notion that humanoid robots are already transforming industrial settings. Although forecasts like Bank of America’s prediction of a billion humanoid workers by 2050 attract investor interest, experts at a Boston robotics expo cautioned that these projections often outpace current technological realities.
Broader technology stories indicate shifting regulatory, political, and financial pressures on leading Artificial Intelligence firms, including OpenAI’s move away from a for-profit model amid legal disputes with Elon Musk and mounting government scrutiny. Other issues covered include the challenges faced by data centers amid energy policy changes, the rapid development of robotaxi production by Waymo, and nascent uses of Artificial Intelligence to probe scientific mysteries such as the origins of life on Earth. Collectively, these highlights illustrate both the hype and hurdles in scaling new technologies, alongside the growing societal and ethical questions triggered by Artificial Intelligence and automation.
