Anthony Levandowski's rise to fame is troubling. He worked at Google and then eventually left and created his self-driving vehicle startup, Otto, which was later bought by Uber. Then Google's Waymo division sued him for allegedly stealing trade secrets that helped Uber develop its own self-driving technology.
Uber eventually fired him after the whole fiasco, but the lawsuit is still ongoing, and he's still very much at the center of it.
Besides self-driving technology, Levandowski has his eyes set on another endeavor. In an in-depth profile of Levandowski by Wired, published Wednesday, Sept. 27, the embattled engineer apparently filed paperwork to create "Way of the Future," a religious organization that aims to "develop and promote the realization of a Godhead based on Artificial Intelligence."
So a religion with AI as its god? Huh.
Will The Singularity Ever Happen?
Some religious groups view AI as a threat to humankind, as The Verge notes, but Levandowski seems more than ready to welcome it with open arms.
It's not surprising that Levandowski believes in the Singularity, a plausible point in time where AI becomes smarter than humans. By contrast, Elon Musk is terrified by it, even saying it's a scenario far more dangerous than any havoc North Korea is capable of wreaking.
It's no surprise either that his developments have been closely associated with AI, working on the technology while at Google and then allegedly stealing those for the benefit of Uber. He's now facing possible criminal charges because of his work, but that's to be determined by the outcome of Waymo and Uber's high-stakes legal feud.
Anthony Levandowski And Way Of The Future
Levandowski's Way of the Future religion has not submitted any forms with the IRS as a non-profit religious organization, but paperwork submitted to California reveal that Levandowski will be acting as the group's CEO and president.
The Singularity may or may not occur, but when it does, Levandowski will firmly be on the side of the machines, it seems like. An AI god may be within possibility, but it's probably far off. Still, the AI boom is undeniable — autonomous cars are already fetching people around Phoenix, Arizona, while Otto's self-driving trucks are set to be part of Uber's strategy to make freight transport safer and more efficient.
But before the church of Levandowski could happen, the engineer must first deal with Waymo's lawsuit and his involvement in it. A trial scheduled next month could change the whole self-driving industry entirely. A win for either of the two would make them the leader of a fast-developing industry.
