What are you investing in? New Athens is a bet on a world where humans and AI do not merge, but instead co-exist as complimentary, cooperative species.

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The earliest investors in AI grappled with a question that’s fallen out of public awareness: in a world with AI, what path should humans take? There were two broad answers proposed. First, humans should merge with AI. Second, humans should be more human—and actually step back from transhuman trends and technologies. In other words, should we be one species, or two species?

Almost everyone with influence chose plan A—merge into one species. New Athens is plan B.

Long term, we’re not inherently against AI. But we fundamentally believe in co-existance and complimentary roles. We think merging, while potentially possible, will harm humans and hold back AI.

Many investors and polciymakers, perhaps yourself included, agree, but went all-in on AI because you see it as only path out of national bankrupsy and total economic collapse. Willing to risk mental health of population getting fried by reckless implementations of retail AI products. This is a bet that keeps many investors and policymakers up at night, as it should. Elon and many others are in this boat.

You should want New Athens to succeed because, at worst, we are a backstop to Plan A: if consumer AI ruins everyone’s mind, New Athenians are the people who will pick up the pieces—who will keep the flame of Western civilization alive. The Battlestar Galactica of Western Civilization.

But we are also a bet on Plan B: a bet on humans as humans. Even a bet on humans as a multi-planetary species.