Tech Prophet In Making? Ex-Google Engineer Pardoned By Trump Revives Church That Worships AI

Anthony Levandowski, known for his pioneering work in self-driving car technology, recently declared the comeback of his AI-centric religious organization. 

What Happened: Speaking on Bloomberg's AI IRL podcast last Wednesday, Levandowski announced an AI-dedicated church that aims to help people better comprehend AI and encourage broader public involvement in shaping AI's evolution. 

Levandowski, a notable yet contentious figure in Silicon Valley, originally launched the Way of the Future church as an engineer at Google's autonomous vehicle project, Waymo.

Levandowski gained widespread attention in 2017 following accusations of stealing trade secrets. He eventually pleaded guilty and received an 18-month prison sentence but was later pardoned by former President Donald Trump in 2021.  He has since served as CEO at Pollen Mobile, a decentralized mobile network he founded in 2021.

Levandowski's church, which boasts a membership of "a couple of thousand people," seeks to nurture a "spiritual connection" with AI.

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"Here, we're actually creating things that can see everything, be everywhere, know everything, and maybe help us and guide us in a way that normally you would call God," Levandowski said on the podcast. 

He also emphasized the importance of making AI relatable to diverse populations, including those in rural America.

"How does a person in rural America relate to this? What does this mean for their job?" he added. "Way of the Future is a mechanism for them to understand and participate and shape the public discourse as to how we think technology should be built to improve you."

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This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

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