Bannon’s War Room: Episode 4870

Revolt Of The Luddites
Date: October 22, 2025
Host: Stephen K. Bannon
Guests: Joe Allen, Max Tegmark (MIT), Senator Josh Hawley, Brandon Weikart, Bradley Thayer

Overview

This episode centers on the urgent debate over artificial general intelligence (AGI) and the looming threat of artificial superintelligence (ASI). Stephen Bannon leads a spirited panel including MIT’s Max Tegmark, Senator Josh Hawley, AI critic Joe Allen, national security writer Brandon Weikart, and analyst Bradley Thayer. The discussion oscillates between the rapid advancement of AI technology, the ethical and societal implications, industry and political responses, China’s role, and America’s strategic positioning—likening today’s “AI race” to a modern-day Luddite revolt against unchecked technological upheaval.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Danger of Superintelligence and the “Race” Narrative

[00:53–05:19]

• Meta Superintelligence Labs: Bannon introduces Meta Superintelligence Labs and the vision to democratize AI.
• Rapid Progress: Multiple guests warn that superintelligent systems, smarter than any human, could be developed within years—not decades. Tegmark references the “San Francisco consensus” that ASI could arrive within six years.
• Industry Haste vs. Public Will: Tegmark emphasizes that less than 5% of Americans support the rush toward superintelligence, yet a Silicon Valley “fringe” is making the decisions undemocratically.

  “We released a poll today also showing that actually less than 5% of all Americans want to race to superintelligence… Yet we have these fringe people in Silicon Valley… shoving it down our throats undemocratically.” – Max Tegmark [03:07]

2. Exposing Tech Oligarchs’ Real Intentions

[05:19–09:18]

• Transhumanist Agenda: Tegmark and Allen argue tech elites want not just tools but a “digital god”—even entertaining merging humans with machines.
• Sam Altman’s Vision: Discussion centers on Sam Altman’s “The Merge” blog, which essentially poses two futures: humans become obsolete, or merge with machines.

  “He thinks basically this is the hopeful future… we merge with machines. And where’s the opt-out button? No thanks.” – Max Tegmark [07:42]

• Religious Rejection: Allen notes the broad rejection of this vision across religious groups—and even among atheists, who see a “digital god” as antithetical to long-fought secular progress.

  “One of the reasons you get such a broad rejection… is because Christians see that these are people who are trying to create a digital God in the absence of what they believe.” – Joe Allen [08:38]

3. Scientists Sound the Alarm—Not “Luddites”

[11:24–12:44]

• Tech Architects Now Critics: The statement released against ungoverned AGI is signed by Jeffrey Hinton and Yoshua Bengio, pioneers of deep learning—likened to an “Oppenheimer moment.”
• Controlling Superintelligence is Impossible: Most scientists, according to Tegmark, believe we don’t know how to control systems far smarter than ourselves and compare pursuing AGI to “inviting technologically superior aliens to Earth.”

  “Many think of it as inviting aliens… technologically superior aliens, to just come to Earth and take over and see what happens, which obviously would count as high treason by any reasonable standards.” – Max Tegmark [11:53]

• Luddite Accusation Refuted: Tegmark mocks critics who call these scientists “Luddites,” paralleling nuclear warnings from Einstein and Oppenheimer.

4. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Technological Arms Race

[13:08–16:22, 24:08–26:42, 41:03–45:22]

• CCP’s Long-Term Plan: Bannon, Thayer, and others stress the CCP’s ambition in AI, robotics, quantum computing, and space.

• Argument for Decoupling: Bannon proposes the US can and must decouple critical tech and finance from China to prevent empowering a repressive regime with AGI.

• China as an Excuse: Tegmark argues tech moguls use the China “arms race” as a pretext for deregulation, but says China would never tolerate a superintelligence beyond CCP control.

  “The last thing [the CCP] are going to tolerate is… some superintelligence that they will lose control over…” – Max Tegmark [25:35]

5. Breaking Up Big Tech and Space Monopolies

[29:12–39:37]

• SpaceX & National Security: Bannon and Weikart debate the dangers of SpaceX’s near-monopoly over US space launches.

• Calls for Diversification: Both argue for more diverse and competitive access to government contracts to avoid single points of failure and undue influence.

• Ownership/Control Proposals: Bannon goes so far as to suggest the US should own 50% of SpaceX since it’s funded by taxpayer contracts; Weikart pushes back against nationalization but agrees on broader competition.

  “You can’t put your eggs in all one basket. No contractor should ever have 97% of something.” – Steve Bannon [37:29]

6. The Next Steps for AI Regulation

[20:09–24:08]

• Materializing Vision: Joe Allen notes AGI is moving from vision to tangible reality, citing dramatic gains in multimodal AI models.
• Regulation Framework: Tegmark calls for strong oversight, treating AI companies like pharma, demanding demonstrable safety before deployment.

  “Just treating AI companies like we treat all other companies will already solve this problem.” – Max Tegmark [23:10]

7. Political Stakes, Shutdown, and National Priorities

[47:53–51:22]

• Veterans vs. Illegals in Budget Debate: Senator Hawley weighs in on the US government shutdown, blaming Democrats for prioritizing benefits for illegal immigrants over veterans and border security.

  “The only reason any of these people are getting paid is because Donald Trump is finding every avenue to try to get paychecks to our folks… It’s the Democrats who would rather shut down the entire government than pay an ICE agent.” – Sen. Josh Hawley [49:55]

• Hawley’s Call To Action: Hawley urges supporters to “draw a line in the sand”: no cuts to ICE, Border Patrol, or veterans’ benefits.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Opening Salvo:

  “This is the primal scream of a dying regime... Pray for our enemies because we're going medieval on these people.”
  — Steve Bannon [00:02]

• On Superintelligence:

  “What happens when every single one of us has the equivalent of the smartest human on every problem in our pocket in the next year or two?”
  — Max Tegmark [01:09]

• On Silicon Valley's Ambitions:

  “These atheists are building their digital God that we're all supposed to worship.”
  — Max Tegmark [05:53]

• Sam Altman’s ‘The Merge’ Vision:

  “We will be the first species ever to design our own descendants. My guess is that we can either be the biological bootloader for digital intelligence ... or we can figure out what a successful merge looks like.”
  — Joe Allen, quoting Sam Altman [09:10]

• The Scientist’s Warning:

  “Both of them are having this Oppenheimer moment now where they're like, holy smokes, what have we done?”
  — Max Tegmark, on AI pioneers Hinton & Bengio [11:33]

• On China’s Superintelligence Scenarios:

  “They’re not going to allow anything they can’t control... The last thing the CCP wants is to build a superintelligence that could overthrow them.”
  — Max Tegmark [25:12]

• On SpaceX:

  “No contractor should ever have 97% of something. You have to spread your eggs in the basket.”
  — Steve Bannon [37:37]

Key Timestamps

• 00:02 – Bannon’s war cry and theme of revolt.
• 01:09 – Max Tegmark on the imminent arrival of superintelligence.
• 03:07 – Tegmark on lack of public support for racing to AGI.
• 07:42 – Tegmark elaborates on Altman’s vision of merging with machines.
• 08:38 – Joe Allen on religious rejection of the “digital god” concept.
• 11:24 – Tegmark on scientist backlash against AGI—Hinton and Bengio’s “Oppenheimer moment.”
• 13:08–16:22 – Bannon and others on China's strategic tech ambitions.
• 24:08 – Bannon challenges the China “arms race” narrative.
• 29:12 – Begin discussion on SpaceX monopoly, nationalization, and competition.
• 37:37 – Bannon: “No contractor should ever have 97%...”
• 41:03 – Thayer on CCP’s ambitions across space, AI, and military.
• 49:55 – Hawley commends Trump’s handling of the shutdown and prioritizing military/law enforcement pay.

Additional Resources & Follow-ups

• Learn/write/sign statement:
  superintelligence-statement.org – Cited by Max Tegmark for public engagement.
• Joe Allen’s AI coverage:
  X & Getter: @JoeBotXYZ
  Website: JoeBot.XYZ
• Brandon Weikart’s security show:
  X: @WeTheBrandon
  “National Security Hour” – America Out Loud News (iHeartWednesdays)

Tone and Language

• Bannon: Bombastic, urgent, populist framing (“primal scream of a dying regime”, “going medieval on these people”).
• Tegmark: Scientific, occasionally wry, emphasizing existential risk and policy urgency.
• Allen: Analytical, framing the AI debate within philosophical and religious terms.
• Weikart/Thayer: Strategic/national security language; not shy about assigning intent to rivals or tech moguls.
• Sen. Hawley: Political, combative, aligning with populist critique of establishment and tech.

Summary

This episode of Bannon’s War Room, “Revolt Of The Luddites,” presents a broad anti-accelerationist front against the unchecked development of superintelligent AI, warning that a small elite are willing to risk humanity’s future for profit and power. The discussion weaves technology, philosophy, national security, and politics into a narrative of populist resistance—drawing parallels to the historical Luddites—while advocating urgent regulation, strategic decoupling from China, and diversification in critical technologies like AI and space.
The conversation is punctuated by skepticism toward Silicon Valley’s motivations, warnings about CCP ambitions, and sharp calls for policymakers to act before it’s too late.