Commentary criticizes belief in AGI and superintelligence as a driver of investment narratives in the tech industry
A commentary on Tech Policy Press criticizes how belief in the imminent emergence of AGI/ASI drives investment narratives at tech companies – one example is SpaceX, whose IPO in June 2026 briefly made Musk a trillionaire and whose market capitalization exceeds 2 trillion USD.
A commentary on Tech Policy Press by Nathalie Maréchal criticizes how belief in the imminent emergence of "artificial general intelligence" (AGI) and "artificial superintelligence" (ASI) has become part of investment and corporate strategies in the tech industry. It cites the IPO of SpaceX in June 2026 as an example, which, according to the author, briefly made Elon Musk the first trillionaire in the world; according to the text, Musk still has a net worth of more than 900 billion USD, and the market capitalization of SpaceX exceeds 2 trillion USD. According to the author, a substantial part of the pitch by SpaceX to investors is the claim that the tech industry is on the verge of creating AGI/ASI capable of solving all human problems.
The author describes how adherents of this belief also expect human consciousness to be "uploaded" to the cloud and merged with AGI, which is supposed to lead to the emergence of "posthumans" or "transhumans" as successors to the species homo sapiens. This set of beliefs refers to the concept of TESCREAL (transhumanism, extropianism, singularitarianism, cosmism, rationalism, effective altruism, and longtermism), introduced by Timnit Gebru and Émile Torres. The text describes these beliefs as irrational and dangerous, citing as an example a statement by Musk at the World Economic Forum, where, according to the author, he predicted that AI would be "smarter than all of humanity combined" within five years.
The author urges policymakers and the public to begin taking these schools of thought seriously and to assess them critically because, in her view, they are already influencing the decisions of people with real power over investments worth trillions of dollars. The text is an opinion commentary, so it primarily presents the assessment and interpretation of the author, rather than independently verified facts.
The available article text was incomplete. Details can be found in the source article.
Why it matters
The text points out that high valuations of companies such as SpaceX rest partly on unsubstantiated assumptions about the imminent emergence of AGI/ASI, rather than solely on verifiable results – this is relevant to anyone assessing the credibility of similar corporate narratives when making investment or strategic decisions.
Two audiences, two different impacts
What this means
For individuals
The text calls on policymakers and the public to critically assess claims about AGI and superintelligence on which companies build investment and societal narratives, rather than accepting them as fact.
For a business
According to the author, SpaceX bases part of its investment pitch on claims about the imminent emergence of AGI/ASI, while the market capitalization of the company has exceeded 2 trillion USD; the commentary suggests a risk that similar valuations in the tech industry may rest on an unsubstantiated promise rather than verifiable results.
Risks and complianceCheck the original
Event sources
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