Podcast Summary: “Build the AI Wall” – The Last Invention (Jan 27, 2026)

Episode Overview
In this episode of The Last Invention, host Andy Mills (Longview) brings together Steve Bannon (former Trump strategist, War Room host) and Joe Allen (War Room’s “transhumanism editor”) for a rare in-depth conversation. The focus: why powerful populists on the right are aligning with AI skeptics, Bannon’s vision of “techno-feudalism,” the case for breaking up Big Tech, existential risk, and the surprising potential for a bipartisan coalition on AI regulation. Bannon and Allen advocate for building regulatory and economic “walls” around U.S. AI development, sharply severing ties with China, and ultimately, checking the ambitions of Silicon Valley’s elites and transhumanists.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Why Populists Fear AI and Big Tech Oligarchs

• AI as a Fundamental Inflection Point:
  • Bannon sees AI as “the most fundamental inflection point of Homo sapiens as a species” [06:11].
  • He ties China’s ambitions (the “China 2025” plan, with AGI at its core) to a broader race towards the “singularity” and emergence of “Homo sapien 2.0” [06:36].
  • “People don’t fully understand these things and they certainly don’t understand the driving motives of the oligarchs.” [07:03]
• Techno-Feudalism & the ‘Broligarchs’:
  • Bannon condemns the “broligarchs”—Big Tech leaders and venture capitalists—who’ve amassed outsized power.
  • He argues they want to transcend the nation-state and create network-based “feudal” entities:
    • “They believe that essentially their feudal lords and everybody else is a serf.” [11:12]
  • Both he and Allen note bipartisan anger at tech monopolies (e.g., from populists like Bernie Sanders and Josh Hawley).
• Alignment with Progressive Antitrust Views:
  • Despite his politics, Bannon lauds Lina Khan and supports aggressive antitrust action:
    • “We believe that the best environment is…to break up the oligarchs…Google, Facebook…Amazon, Twitter—all of it.” [32:30–33:09]

2. The Transhumanist Threat: Utopia or Dystopia?

• Defining Transhumanism:
  • Joe Allen: “To use science and technology to go beyond the biological limitations of the human being.” [12:28]
  • Traces lineage: Teilhard de Chardin’s “noosphere,” Julian Huxley, and more recently, Max More.
  • Links current tech titans to the dream of uploading minds, extending life, and merging man and machine [14:30–15:51].
• Impending Ethical Crisis:
  • Bannon warns: families will soon face whether to genetically or technologically "enhance" children for competition:
    • “One of the most serious dilemmas…in the next couple of years: … Do I need to become a transhumanist? Do I need to chip the kid?...These decisions…are going to be on to people to make in the next couple of years with very imperfect information…” [15:53–16:57]
• Concerns Over Lack of Oversight:
  • “We have no earthly idea right now what’s really going on in these labs. We have no guardrails and no control whatsoever.” [17:47]
  • Bannon cites industry efforts to dodge regulation (“AI amnesty”) and highlights the political fight to block such measures [20:05–22:26].

3. Populism vs. Oligarchy: The Real Target of Regulation

• Protecting the People:
  • Allen: “Any elected government official should be protecting people…the average person from the predatory elite…” [22:26]
  • Tech leaders, says Allen, are shielding their interests from democratic will and intend to impose their “transhumanist” vision [23:13–24:17].
• Observing a Populist-Progressive Alliance:
  • Bannon repeatedly describes common cause between right-wing populists and some on the left (“coupled with some progressives” [34:45]) to fight Big Tech power.

4. AI and the Future of Work: Liberation or Disaster?

• Skeptical of the “World of Abundance”:
  • Both guests dismiss optimistic predictions (e.g., Elon Musk) that AI will free everyone from drudgery:
    • “I don’t think any sentient being believes that that is gonna roll down to the benefit of working class men and women…” [26:06]
  • Bannon warns the real threat is to “lower white collar” workers, hitting younger Americans hardest first [26:21–27:03].
  • On proposals for universal basic income: “Tip money, right, to keep you off the streets.” [27:59]
• Loss of Bargaining Power & Dignity:
  • Allen warns: “...We have zero negotiating power. We…have nothing left to offer. We have no bargaining power whatsoever. So that means we’re completely at the mercy of whoever controls these machines.” [28:46]
  • He also stresses the developmental value of work—“Oftentimes it ain’t fair. Yeah. Oftentimes it’s not pleasant. But working your ass off is what makes you a man…It’s what makes you…a woman. And to take that identity away…is a travesty.” [30:08–31:24]

5. What Should Be Done? The Bannon-Allen Playbook

• Immediate Policy Recommendations:
  • Break Up the Tech Giants:
    • “Break them all up.” [33:09]
  • Regulatory Oversight of AI Labs:
    • Analogies drawn to the postwar Atomic Energy Commission [33:36, 35:15].
  • Moratorium on Government Funding until regulation and oversight are in place:
    • “There ought to be a ban on any government money until we get our arms around artificial intelligence.” [35:48]
• Transparency & Accountability:
  • Allen supports stiffer penalties and real transparency (noting SB53 in California and national bills are “a step in the right direction but the penalties are…pitiful”). [39:53]
• On Existential & Catastrophic Risk:
  • Allen: “I think…if anyone builds it, everything sucks. I think the more artificial intelligence becomes the central focus…AI has made life so miserable that most people wish we went extinct.” [36:49]
  • Both agree that AI is an existential threat that demands immediate democratic engagement.

6. The U.S., China, and the “AI Wall”

• Severing U.S.–China AI Ties:
  • Bannon calls claims about China’s invulnerability “not truthful,” stressing the U.S. provides “the entire ecosystem for China’s competitiveness here.” [45:02]
  • Policy proposals include:
    • Zero Chinese students/visas [46:21]
    • Evicting Chinese nationals from labs and companies
    • Blocking any “equity financing…by pension funds” into China
    • “No chips, no access” [46:55]
  • “100%. Build an AI wall…The United States is going to be supreme in this technology…” [47:40]
• Empowering American Citizens:
  • “Set up the regulatory apparatus…as light a touch as possible until we understand that.” [48:07]
  • Urges citizens to be “present now for these decisions because these decisions are so fundamental for our species and they can't be put back in the bottle.” [48:18]

7. The Prospect of a Bipartisan Anti-AGI Coalition

• Drawing Parallels to Past Populist Alliances:
  • Bannon recounts the convergence of right and left discontent in the 2016 and 2024 Trump victories and sees similar potential:
    • “You’re gonna see a total reordering of politics around this issue of the oligarchs and the crushing nature of this kind of techno feudalism.” [51:07]
• Mass Rebellion Against AI Elites:
  • Allen asserts widespread resistance across the political spectrum:
    • “Any human being with any dignity or any desire for personal autonomy knows instinctively that these narratives don't include them in the future…as long as that rejection has some channel, you're going to have masses of people who put up sort of psychic and cultural blast shields against this.” [51:23–53:02]

Notable Quotes, With Timestamps

• “I think we are at the most fundamental inflection point of Homo sapiens as a species.”
  —Steve Bannon, [06:11]

• “They believe that essentially they're feudal lords and everybody else is a serf… You're not going to…own anything and you're not going to own anything.”
  —Steve Bannon, [11:12]

• “The reality is, the dream that they had in mind…all these things have been taken up with enormous enthusiasm all over the world. And you simply can't…contain such a dream.”
  —Joe Allen, [15:09]

• “We have no earthly idea what's really going on in these labs. We have no guardrails and no control whatsoever. And the taxpayer is underwriting a lot of this.”
  —Steve Bannon, [17:47]

• “Break them all up.”
  —Steve Bannon, [33:09]

• “If anyone builds it, everything sucks…AI has made life so miserable that most people wish we went extinct.”
  —Joe Allen, [36:49]

• “100%. Build an AI wall. That the United States is going to be supreme in this technology.”
  —Steve Bannon, [47:40]

• “Any human being with any dignity or any desire for personal autonomy knows instinctively that these narratives don't include them in the future… As long as that rejection has some channel… you're going to have masses of people who put up… cultural blast shields against this.”
  —Joe Allen, [51:23–53:02]

Key Timestamps for Major Segments

• Populists and the Oligarchs: [06:11–11:59]
• Transhumanism, Silicon Valley, and Utopia/Dystopia: [12:28–17:19]
• Political Battle and Regulatory Efforts: [17:47–24:17]
• The Working Class and the AI Economy: [24:57–31:24]
• What Should Be Done (Breakups, Regulation): [32:30–36:28]
• Existential and Catastrophic Risks: [36:49–41:13]
• US–China Tech War, ‘AI Wall’: [44:20–48:53]
• Bipartisan Populist Coalition, Future of AI Politics: [49:43–53:02]

Podcast Tone

The conversation is frank, urgent, and adversarial towards Silicon Valley and Big Tech architects. Bannon, in particular, speaks with pugilistic energy and strategic clarity, often using vivid and provocative metaphors (“broligarchs,” “techno-feudalism,” “AI wall”). Allen is detailed, historical, and rhetorically grave, with a focus on transhumanism, work, and existential risk.

For Listeners Who Haven’t Tuned In:
This episode offers a lively and insightful examination of how right-wing populists are aligning with regulatory progressives against Big Tech—and why they view the unchecked rise of AI as a direct threat to democratic control, working-class autonomy, and even human survival. Expect a blend of policy proposals, cultural warnings, and populist battle cries.