Thiel puts AI at the center of Nashville lecture series

Peter Thiel’s four-week Nashville lecture series begins Sept. 28 and will examine artificial intelligence through his biblical framework of apocalypse and the Antichrist. The talks land as AI draws intense attention from Washington to Wall Street and from Nashville’s music industry to local debates over data centers.

Why it matters: - Peter Thiel is using artificial intelligence as the main subject of a Nashville lecture series that ties technology to politics, religion and power. - The talks come as AI shapes policy debates, investor expectations and cultural disputes across the country. - Nashville is also facing its own AI flashpoint, including a proposed data center beside the Nashville Zoo.

What happened: - The Pamphleteer, in collaboration with Meriwether Academy, is presenting the Nashville Antichrist Lectures. - The four-week series begins Sept. 28 in downtown Nashville, with a limited number of tickets still available. - Thiel will frame AI through his broader biblical lens of apocalypse and the Antichrist. - Tickets and additional information are available here.

The details: - The lectures will run on consecutive Mondays: Sept. 28, Oct. 5, Oct. 12 and Oct. 19. - Each evening includes an hour-long lecture followed by an hour of discussion and audience questions. - Peter Robinson, a Hoover Institution fellow and former speechwriter for President Ronald Reagan, will moderate the discussion. - The precise location will be shared with ticket holders shortly before each event. - Tickets cost $100 and cover all four lectures. - The series will be closed-door, off the record and subject to a no-device policy. - The lectures are intended to be experienced as a single, sequential series. - The article notes that Thiel brought similar thinking on technology, the future and the Antichrist to a private lecture series in Rome in March. - Two months later, Pope Leo XIV issued Magnifica Humanitas, a 40,000-word statement on AI and its impact on human dignity, freedom and society. - In Washington, President Donald Trump has elevated AI on the national agenda and has floated alternative labels such as “Superior Intelligence.” - On Wall Street, investors are watching possible public offerings from OpenAI and Anthropic. - In Nashville, artists and songwriters are grappling with copyright and ownership questions tied to AI.

Between the lines: - Thiel is positioning AI as more than a business story, turning it into a question of moral order, political power and human identity. - The structure of the series suggests a broader argument, with each lecture building on the last rather than standing alone. - The closed-door format and no-device rule signal an event designed for limited circulation and controlled discussion. - The broad range of references, from the Vatican to Nashville’s music industry, shows how widely AI now cuts across institutions.

What's next: - The first lecture is set for Sept. 28, with the series continuing through Oct. 19. - Ticket holders will receive the venue location shortly before each event. - Attendees will hear Thiel’s full case only by attending all four sessions. - The series is likely to add to the broader public debate over AI’s role in society, religion and power.