PayPal and Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel is embarking on an unusual intellectual journey this fall—delivering a sold-out four-part lecture series on the biblical figure of the Antichrist. The private lectures, hosted by The Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, represent the latest evolution in Thiel’s increasingly public theological interests, which intertwine his Christian faith with his concerns about technology’s potential to enable authoritarian control.
The series, organized by the nonprofit Acts 17 Collective, will explore “the theological and technological dimensions of the Antichrist” in four sessions across September and October. The lectures remain off-the-record, with no transcripts or recordings made public, but they draw upon the work of René Girard, the French philosopher who profoundly influenced Thiel during his Stanford undergraduate years, along with thinkers like Francis Bacon and Carl Schmitt.
Thiel’s theological preoccupations might seem incongruous with his business empire, but they reflect a consistent worldview shaped by Girard’s “mimetic theory“—the idea that human desires are learned through imitation, often leading to conflict and violence. This philosophical framework reportedly influenced Thiel’s $500,000 angel investment in Facebook in 2004, which he credits to recognizing the mimetic nature of social media.
The 57-year-old billionaire, worth an estimated $20.8 billion according to Forbes, built his fortune through a series of contrarian investments that challenged conventional Silicon Valley wisdom. His investment philosophy centers on identifying monopoly-like businesses and backing transformative technologies before they gain mainstream recognition. This approach led to early successes with PayPal, which sold to eBay for $1.5 billion in 2002, and later investments in companies like Palantir Technologies, the data-analytics firm he co-founded in 2003.
Palantir has emerged as perhaps Thiel’s most controversial venture, providing surveillance and data analysis tools to government agencies including Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Department of Defense, and intelligence services. The company’s “Gotham” platform enables law enforcement to connect vast datasets, creating detailed profiles of individuals by combining everything from DMV records to social media activity. Recent Trump administration contracts have expanded Palantir’s reach across federal agencies, raising concerns about potential misuse for political targeting.
A theory of technological apocalypse
Thiel’s fascination with the Antichrist concept stems from his belief that such a figure would rise to power not through overt evil, but by exploiting technological fears to impose global control. In a recent New York Times interview, Thiel said his “speculative thesis” about how the Antichrist might emerge: “The way the Antichrist would take over the world is you talk about Armageddon nonstop. You talk about existential risk nonstop.”
This theory positions the Antichrist as someone who would offer “peace and safety” while using fear of catastrophic technological risks—artificial intelligence dangers, nuclear war, climate change—to justify unprecedented surveillance and control measures. The irony, as some critics note, is that Thiel himself frequently discusses apocalyptic scenarios while building the very surveillance technologies that could enable such control.
Thiel has previously suggested that modern technology provides the “mechanism” that fictional depictions of the Antichrist lacked: the ability to achieve global dominance through data integration and surveillance rather than traditional conquest. Thiel’s company Palantir exemplifies this capability, with its platforms designed to synthesize disparate information sources into comprehensive intelligence systems.
Thiel’s theological interests have grown more public in recent years, coinciding with his increased political influence. He was an early Trump supporter and delegate at the 2016 Republican National Convention, where he made history as the first openly gay speaker to declare his sexuality from the stage. His support for political figures like J.D. Vance, whom he helped launch into politics, reflects his belief that technological stagnation requires disruptive political change.
The Acts 17 Collective—which organized Thiel’s Antichrist lecture series and takes its name from Acts 17, where the apostle Paul preached to cultural elites in Athens and other intellectual centers—targets wealthy tech leaders by recognizing that traditional evangelical approaches often fail to resonate in secular tech culture. For Thiel, who grew up Lutheran but describes himself as having complicated religious views, his interpretation draws heavily on Girard’s work on sacrifice, violence, and social order, seeing Christianity as uniquely equipped to diagnose the dangers of society that technology can amplify.
The big picture
The timing of Thiel’s Antichrist lectures coincides with growing scrutiny of Palantir’s expanding role in government surveillance. Under the Trump administration, the company has secured over $113 million in federal contracts, with its technology now deployed across at least four major agencies. The company’s ability to integrate data from multiple sources has raised concerns among civil liberties advocates and even some Republicans about the potential for abuse.
Critics argue that Thiel’s warnings about the Antichrist ring hollow given his role in building the very surveillance infrastructure that could enable authoritarian control. Thirteen former Palantir employees recently signed a letter urging the company to cease its work with the Trump administration, citing concerns about how the technology might be misused for political targeting.
These tensions reflect broader questions about the role of technology companies in democratic governance. As Palantir’s tools become increasingly sophisticated, the line between legitimate security applications and potential authoritarian abuse becomes harder to define. Thiel’s theological framework offers one lens for understanding these risks, but whether his Antichrist lectures represent genuine concern about technological overreach or an attempt to deflect criticism of his own companies remains an open question.
Palantir did not immediately respond to Fortune‘s request for comment.
For this story, Fortune used generative AI to help with an initial draft. An editor verified the accuracy of the information before publishing.
