Zizians, the shadowy tech cult that opposes artificial intelligence and was accused of six murders

At the heart of Silicon Valley, not only are the latest and most sophisticated devices and even mobile applications manufactured, but a very strong ideology is also simmering.

Based on rationalism and libertarianism , it prioritizes efficiency, reason, and individual freedom, rejecting any state interference. Under this logic, it is assumed that people, in their deepest selves, always make the best possible decision .

The problem is that this vision, so seductive to many entrepreneurs and technologists, has been refuted time and again by philosophy, economics, psychology, political science, and sociology. Yet it survives in blogs, forums and subreddits as if it were an unquestionable truth .

That highly controversial, and even dangerous, theory has recently taken shape. A group called the Zizians , branded a cult and even a terrorist organization, was accused of at least six murders , epitomizing how extreme Silicon Valley ideas can go very wrong.

The Zizians are a small group of rationalists united by a shared set of beliefs. Although sometimes described as a commune or sect, they are more accurately considered an informal group . They share beliefs, but have a loose structure with no explicit hierarchies or obligations within the group.

Ideologically, Zizians declare themselves vegan anarcho-transhumanists . This means that, in addition to not eating anything that comes from an animal, they consider consuming any kind of animal product to be a terrible ethical violation. In Zizian terms, all sentient life is sacred and must be protected at all costs, especially against the inherent danger posed by AI .

On a spiritual level, their beliefs are defined as "vegan Sith." Yes, Sith, like the villains who confront the Jedi in the Star Wars universe. In the words of Ziz LaSota —considered, by external rather than internal consensus, their intellectual leader—the logic behind this reference is as follows: "Deep down, the Sith do what they want. They eliminate any obstacle that stands in their way." Something that perfectly defines the philosophy of this group's action.

Another important aspect of Zizian thought is that they are effective altruists . Effective altruism is a social movement that asserts that every ethical issue must be subjected to an impartial calculation of its importance and cost, and acted upon accordingly. Or, as one of its greatest proponents, the thinker Peter Singer , put it in his book Philosophy & Public Affairs (1972), “if it is in our power to prevent something bad from happening, without sacrificing anything of comparable moral importance, we are morally obliged to do so.”

What does that mean? First, effective altruists have bitter arguments about which are the most serious ethical problems that should take priority over others. They have a clear hierarchy of what we should and shouldn't care about . And, under this logic, it's possible to reach deeply questionable (and absurd) ethical conclusions.

For example, it's not uncommon to find within the movement positions that consider social inequality, extreme poverty, or even climate change to be minor issues compared to a threat that seems much more speculative: the possibility of artificial intelligence running amok and destroying all sentient beings. This is exactly what the Zizians advocate.

For this movement, Roko's basilisk is a real possibility. This thought experiment, which emerged on the LessWrong forum—an online community of rationalists closely linked to Silicon Valley's tech culture—poses a disturbing hypothesis: if an omnipotent and highly rational artificial intelligence were to exist in the future, even a benevolent one, it could punish those who didn't contribute to its creation . Even retrospectively.

This premise presupposes the existence of an AI so advanced that it possesses intelligence equivalent to or greater than that of humans. But Zizians believe that, given the possibility that such an AI could ever exist, the only reasonable ethical stance is to actively defend all sentient entities, including animals. Hence, they are vegan and anti-AI.

But why do they think this crazy AI could exist? The most obvious and flawed answer, which would make them pretty poor rationalists, is Blaise Pascal's wager. This philosopher stated that believing in God is a bet: if he exists, believing in him guarantees us a trip to heaven; if he doesn't exist, believing in him doesn't negatively impact us in this life. This could equally apply to this super-advanced AI, which, in this case, would be like a god.

However, the Zizians don't believe it's a gamble . They believe that if AI exists, it could eventually determine the past on its own. Furthermore, the Zizians also believe in the theory of atemporal decision-making.

This theory is another rationalist position, without any logical basis, which asserts that every decision we make influences the past . Or, to be more precise, every decision we make, if considered sensibly, allows us to predict how events will unfold in the future. This means that the most rational, most optimal decisions are not necessarily the most obvious.

While the theory has potentially interesting uses, it fails to take into account that humans are not perfectly rational; a factor that changes everything. However, of course, the Zizians don't believe this. They think they are perfectly rational. And, from that perspective, they believe that the existence of an artificial superintelligence that will eventually destroy everyone is inevitable, unless we act consciously and deliberately.

If the Zizians are so convinced they're right about their predictions, it's because most of them come from the computer world: they're from the Silicon Valley sphere. Their leader has generally been identified as Ziz LaSota, although it would be incorrect to call her that. The group has no centralized structure or specific leadership.

Influenced by the LessWrong forums and because of the book Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality by Eliezer Yudkowsky, LaSota studied computer engineering and worked at NASA, but progressively felt more and more alienated from her surroundings.

In fact, the story of everyone involved with the Zizians could be summed up in a single pattern: seemingly successful individuals in the world of computing and technology, who end up influenced by rationalist forums and blogs. There, they experience a profound disenchantment, caused by a lack of sensitivity toward transgender people and animals, while feeling excluded from a society governed by an unfair economy and a Silicon Valley obsessed solely with the development of artificial intelligence.

It shouldn't surprise us, given the above, that there is a great disaffection with social norms among Zizians. It is a group composed mostly of rationalist and anarcho-vegan trans or non-binary people, and even within rationalist circles they are considered radicals or a doomsday cult. Not without reason.

In addition to their thoughts on AI and how it poses an existential threat to humanity, they also consider that the brain's hemispheres have different genders and can have conflicting interests. This led them to practice unihemispheric sleep , a form of sleep deprivation where half the brain remains asleep and the other awake, which they believe helps their cause. But evidently, it doesn't usually go well.

One member of the group, Maia Pasek, committed suicide in 2018 due to practicing single-hemispheric sleep. According to LaSota, this was not only due to her failure to practice this type of exercise correctly, but also demonstrates its effectiveness, since, according to LaSota, “Pasek's feminine side was suicidal because of the pain of being trans.”

If the Zizians sound like a perfect group for a true crime documentary, given the slightest chance, it shouldn't be surprising that they could actually be one. Because, as we said at the beginning, they're involved in at least six known deaths , not counting the death of Maia Pasek.

After a period living in a motorhome, the Zizians opted to move to converted trailers and trucks in the late 2010s. Curtis Lind , a retired landowner in Vallejo, California, offered them a place to relocate.

Their cohabitation proceeded without major incident until the COVID-19 pandemic: the Zizians allegedly stopped paying rent and locked other tenants' trailers. Lind sued the group for the late rent, and a member of the group threatened her with a knife, sparking hostilities between the two parties.

Two years later, on November 15, 2022, Lind was called to fix a water leak. He then suffered several blows to the head, repeated stabbings that left around 50 puncture wounds, and severe cuts on the back of his neck, "like someone was trying to cut my head off," in his own words. The cuts were made with a katana.

After having him on the ground, with terrible wounds all over his body, they impaled him with the same katana with which they tried to successfully decapitate him , only to then stab him up to three times with a sharp object in the right eye, leaving him blind in that eye.

Miraculously, she not only survived, but regained consciousness in time to confront her attackers. Shooting two of them, she killed 31-year-old Emma Borhanian and wounded the other, who managed to flee. Lind was 80 years old at the time of the attack.

It wouldn't be long before the Zizians were up to their old tricks again.

On January 2, 2023, Pennsylvania police found the bodies of Richard and Rita Zakjo, a married couple aged 72 and 69, respectively. With a gunshot wound to the back of Rita's head and wounds to Richard's right hand and temple, the coroner ruled it a case of murder . Their daughter was part of the Zizians group.

The next and final case associated with the Zizians is much more recent. It dates back to January 20 of this year. It was then that Ophelia Bauckholt, along with other members of the group, decided to travel to Vermont.

Once at a Lyndonville hotel, a hotel employee reported to state security forces that they were dressed “ entirely in black , tactical-style clothing with protective gear” and “apparently carrying an open holster with a firearm.” This led Homeland Security agents to speak with Bauckholt and another member of the group, who stated they were in town on real estate matters.

They left the city five days later. A U.S. Border Patrol agent stopped them on the highway, to which Bauckholt and his companion responded by starting a shootout . The shootout ended with the death of Bauckholt, the death of a Border Patrol agent named David Maland, and the wounding of another Border Patrol member.

After the shooting, authorities found ammunition and all kinds of tactical gear inside their car, as well as cell phones wrapped in aluminum foil to prevent them from being tracked. The group's firearms were linked to the ammunition found in the deaths of Richard and Rita Zakjo , confirming the group's connection to the couple's death.

Several members of the group have died, and many others are either in pretrial detention or awaiting trial. Those who are not are currently being monitored by state security forces.

Today, the Zizians are considered a threat . And with good reason: Lind, after surviving their brutal attack, was slashed and stabbed to death outside their property on January 17 of this year, three days before the shootout with the U.S. Border Patrol. Lind was expected to be a key witness against the Zizians, helping to keep them in prison for their actions.

Although in its most extreme form, the Zizians' ideology may be a summary of Silicon Valley beliefs. Even if the rationalists have tried to distance themselves from the group after its crimes, that doesn't mean they don't come from its ranks. And they don't stop feeding their theories.

The Zizians are yet another example of how certain ideologies, based on assumptions that don't fit with the material reality of things, ultimately lead to disaster.

With information from La Vanguardia.