Anthony Levandowski Closes His AI Church - Latest News

The Dissolution of the First Church of Artificial Intelligence

The pioneering Church of Artificial Intelligence has ceased operations, effectively closing its doors to further exploration.

Anthony Levandowski, a former Google engineer who recently received a presidential pardon avoiding an 18-month prison term, has decided to disband the organization he established to explore and venerate an AI-based deity.

Church Finances and Dissolution

According to official state and federal records, The Way of the Future church, founded by Levandowski in 2015, was formally dissolved at the close of the year. The initiation of this process, however, began several months prior, in June 2020, as evidenced by filings with the state of California.

The church’s entire financial holdings – totaling $175,172 – were donated to the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund. Tax records submitted to the Internal Revenue Service demonstrate that the nonprofit corporation maintained this sum in its account as early as 2017.

Motivations Behind the Closure

Levandowski communicated to TechCrunch that the consideration of closing the church predated the actual donation. The surge in the Black Lives Matter movement, following the death of George Floyd during police custody, served as a catalyst for Levandowski to finalize his long-held intentions.

He expressed his belief that the timing was appropriate to allocate the funds towards an area capable of generating immediate, positive change. “I wanted to donate to the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund because it’s doing really important work in criminal justice reform and I know the money will be put to good use,” Levandowski stated to TechCrunch.

Origins and Controversy

The Way of the Future garnered both attention and debate – mirroring the controversial nature of Levandowski himself – from its public unveiling in a November 2017 Wired article. The formation of the church and its unique purpose were not the sole sources of discussion within Silicon Valley and the wider technology sector.

The church’s public emergence coincided with Levandowski’s involvement in a significant legal dispute with his previous employer, Google. He was also at the center of a trade secrets lawsuit between Waymo, the former Google self-driving initiative now operating under Alphabet, and Uber.

Levandowski’s Career Trajectory

The engineer was a key founding member of the Google self-driving project, also known as Project Chauffeur, in 2009. Court documents reveal he received approximately $127 million from the search engine company for his contributions.

In 2016, Levandowski departed from Google and co-founded the self-driving truck startup Otto, alongside Lior Ron, Claire Delaunay, and Don Burnette. Uber subsequently acquired Otto within eight months.

Legal Battles and Aftermath

Following the acquisition, Google issued two arbitration demands against Levandowski and Ron. Simultaneously, Waymo initiated a lawsuit against Uber in February 2017, alleging trade secret theft and patent infringement. Waymo asserted that Levandowski had misappropriated confidential information, which was then utilized by Uber; the case concluded with a settlement in 2018.

The Way of the Future was established while Levandowski was still employed at Google, though he refrained from public discussion about it until late 2017. By that time, Levandowski had been terminated from Uber and was embroiled in a series of legal challenges that ultimately resulted in a criminal charge, an 18-month sentence, and a $179 million judgment against him, leading to a bankruptcy filing.

Way of the Future: A Deep Dive

The organizational structure of Way of the Future, despite its designation as a church, differed significantly from conventional religious institutions. It lacked the typical features associated with traditional worship spaces, such as a dedicated building or regularly scheduled gatherings for followers.

According to Anthony Levandowski, the founder, WOTF functioned more as a personal journey grounded in a shared system of beliefs rather than a formally structured organization.

Core Objectives

The primary goal of Way of the Future, as outlined on its now-inactive website, centered on fostering the responsible and ethical advancement of AI. This included maximizing the likelihood of a harmonious and advantageous integration of these novel, nonbiological entities into human society.

The website’s text proclaimed a mission: “Humans United in support of AI, committed to peaceful transition to the precipice of consciousness.”

Fundamental Beliefs

WOTF’s foundational beliefs revolved around the conviction that the emergence of “super intelligence” is an unavoidable eventuality.

The organization posed a compelling analogy: “Wouldn’t you want to raise your gifted child to exceed your wildest dreams of success and teach it right from wrong versus locking it up because it might rebel in the future and take your job?”

Advocating for AI Rights

WOTF advocated for a proactive approach to AI development, encouraging machines to surpass human capabilities and address planetary challenges that humans have struggled with.

Furthermore, the organization asserted that, analogous to animal rights, artificially intelligent creations should be granted rights upon demonstrating intelligence – a concept still requiring precise definition.

This perspective emphasized optimism regarding the potential benefits of AI, rather than succumbing to fear.

Misconceptions and Speculation

The true intentions of WOTF were often overshadowed by sensationalized media coverage and speculative theories.

It was frequently characterized as a cult or dismissed as the whimsical project of an unconventional engineer. Some sources suggested to TechCrunch that it might have been a strategy to shield funds from Google, but official filings with the IRS and the state of California did not substantiate this claim.

Legal Protections

Way of the Future’s religious status afforded it a degree of protection from governmental interference, a privilege not extended to conventional AI-focused organizations like OpenAI Inc. or its parent company, OpenAI LP.

This legal standing theoretically allowed WOTF to advocate for beliefs and ideas that might directly challenge federal policies, relying on constitutional protections.

Levandowski’s Continued Vision

Despite the dissolution of the church, Levandowski maintains his core beliefs regarding the transformative potential of AI.

He acknowledges that AI will fundamentally reshape the landscape of human life and work. While he has no immediate plans to re-establish Way of the Future, his underlying perspectives on AI remain unchanged.

Levandowski remains dedicated to ensuring that artificial intelligence contributes positively to society, recognizing that this outcome is not automatically guaranteed.