ClaimsPeople

Peter Thiel

Peter Thiel is an entrepreneur and venture capitalist who co-founded PayPal and Palantir Technologies and founded Founders Fund.

673 claims collected, 107 researched, 55 resolved. Report of 30 October 2026, method 0.1.0+3e03e2df.

Scores by kind of claim

Each kind of claim is scored on its own, out of 100: the share that held up, with the range it likely falls in. Fewer resolved claims give a wider range.

  • Factual claims

    Statements about the present or the past, checked against the record: did they hold up?

    71 64 78

    Medium confidence, 55 factual claims resolved. From 11 documents, 2007 to 2026; 15 documents sampled from 29 candidates found.

    Not scored: 24 unresolvable, 1 checkable only against their own records.

  • Predictions

    Statements about events outside the person's control, checked once they fell due: did they come true?

    Insufficient record: 0 predictions resolved, 5 needed for a score.

    Not scored: 23 unresolvable. 4 more fall due later.

    Does not yet allow for how likely each prediction was when made.

All types combined: 71 (likely 64 to 78, medium confidence), from 55 claims: 55 factual claims. It mixes kinds of claim in different proportions for different people, so compare people kind by kind.

Peter Thiel's claims

673 claims, sorted by newest said. Choose a claim to read it in full.
VerdictKindSaidClaimTopic
Not checkable Not checkable 30 Sep 2026 It's less good than a golf cart. Not checkable · 30 Sep 2026
Unresolvable Factual 30 Sep 2026 In Marlowe's 16th-century Faust story, Faust is a fake scientist. Factual · 30 Sep 2026 Other
Not checkable Not checkable 30 Sep 2026 There's always a question I like to ask: What is the antonym of good? Not checkable · 30 Sep 2026
Not checkable Not checkable 30 Sep 2026 And if you're evil, you're not bad. Not checkable · 30 Sep 2026
Not checkable Not checkable 30 Sep 2026 The moral question of our society, we have all these good vs. evil debates, and we're just full of badness. Not checkable · 30 Sep 2026
Not checkable Not checkable 30 Sep 2026 A Trabbi is a bad car. Not checkable · 30 Sep 2026
Unresolvable Factual 30 Sep 2026 In Marlowe's Faust, Faust is a magician or fake alchemist practising bad science and goes straight to hell. Factual · 30 Sep 2026 Other
Not checkable Not checkable 30 Sep 2026 And therefore, maybe you're actually kind of good because you're at least getting something done. Not checkable · 30 Sep 2026
Not checkable Not checkable 30 Sep 2026 And so, if you're evil, you're at least competent. Not checkable · 30 Sep 2026
Mostly true Factual 30 Sep 2026 In Goethe's Faust, Faust makes a pact with the devil and, in Thiel's words, "sort of" gains knowledge by morally dubious means. Factual · 30 Sep 2026 Other
Not checkable Not checkable 30 Sep 2026 And the moral antonym is evil. Not checkable · 30 Sep 2026
Not checkable Not checkable 30 Sep 2026 Most of the time, things are not even evil, they're not even good. They're just merely bad. Not checkable · 30 Sep 2026
Not checkable Not checkable 30 Sep 2026 A Ferrari is an evil car because it doesn't get many miles per gallon. Not checkable · 30 Sep 2026
Not checkable Not checkable 30 Sep 2026 The functional antonym is bad. Not checkable · 30 Sep 2026
Not checkable Not checkable 30 Sep 2026 So you're in a world where 99% of the businesses, companies, people, political leaders, business leaders are totally incompetent, that's… Not checkable · 30 Sep 2026
Not checkable Not checkable 30 Sep 2026 I'm going to get in trouble for what I'm about to say, but I think we moralize way too much. Not checkable · 30 Sep 2026
Not checkable Not checkable 30 Sep 2026 I think it's better to be good than evil, I want to be very clear, but I prefer Goethe's "Faust" to Marlowe's "Faust." Not checkable · 30 Sep 2026
Mostly true Factual 30 Sep 2026 In Goethe's Faust, things work out more for the best and Faust is redeemed. Factual · 30 Sep 2026 Other
Not checkable Not checkable 25 Sep 2026 They may say the idea is crazy, yet secretly agree with me. Not checkable · 25 Sep 2026
Mostly true Factual 25 Sep 2026 In Thiel's assessment, Europe is extremely far behind in AI, although he said the situation is still fluid. Factual · 25 Sep 2026 AI policy and governance
Unresolvable Factual 25 Sep 2026 In Thiel's assessment, Europe is even further behind in AI in 2026 than it was with Minitel. Factual · 25 Sep 2026 AI policy and governance
Not yet due Prediction 25 Sep 2026 Thiel said he thinks Javier Milei will be reelected because people understand the stakes. Prediction · 25 Sep 2026 Other
Unresolvable Prediction 25 Sep 2026 Thiel expects that, without progress, extreme parties on the right and left will keep gaining ground. Prediction · 25 Sep 2026 Philosophy, ethics and society
Not yet due Prediction 25 Sep 2026 Thiel put the chance of a democratic socialist winning the 2028 election at perhaps 50 percent. Prediction · 25 Sep 2026 Other
Not checkable Not checkable 25 Sep 2026 The alternative is also far from neutral. Not checkable · 25 Sep 2026
Mostly true Factual 25 Sep 2026 Thiel's stagnation thesis held that technological progress has slowed since the 1970s. Factual · 25 Sep 2026 Their own work or organisation
Not checkable Not checkable 25 Sep 2026 I do not know how to assign a probability to a system much smarter than any human escaping control. Not checkable · 25 Sep 2026
Unresolvable Prediction 25 Sep 2026 AI may turn out to be bigger than the internet in its economic impact. Prediction · 25 Sep 2026 AI, the economy and work
Mostly true Factual 25 Sep 2026 Thiel's 2009 article did not argue that people would lose their votes or that democracy would disappear. Factual · 25 Sep 2026 Their own work or organisation
Not checkable Not checkable 25 Sep 2026 I do not want one led by democratic socialists. Not checkable · 25 Sep 2026
Not checkable Not checkable 25 Sep 2026 I do think there is a trend against democracy, and liberal societies are in some trouble. Not checkable · 25 Sep 2026
Not checkable Not checkable 25 Sep 2026 Much of this is what we are doing to ourselves in the West. Not checkable · 25 Sep 2026
Not checkable Not checkable 25 Sep 2026 If I had to single out one problem, it would be dementia: finding a way to slow or reverse the decline in people's brains. Not checkable · 25 Sep 2026
Not checkable Not checkable 25 Sep 2026 But even a 5 or 10 percent probability would be pretty bad, and that understandably pushes people toward precaution. Not checkable · 25 Sep 2026
Unresolvable Prediction 25 Sep 2026 Friedrich Merz may remain in office because others do not think they can do better. Prediction · 25 Sep 2026 Other
Unresolvable Factual 25 Sep 2026 Western countries have large welfare states, taxes that already feel high and substantial deficits. Factual · 25 Sep 2026 Economics and markets
Not checkable Not checkable 25 Sep 2026 I strongly reject the suggestion of moral equivalence between the United States and China. Not checkable · 25 Sep 2026
Not checkable Not checkable 25 Sep 2026 When a majority votes for parties that want to end democracy, it may already be nearly too late. Not checkable · 25 Sep 2026
Not checkable Not checkable 25 Sep 2026 I am self-aware enough to know that I am not electable. Not checkable · 25 Sep 2026
Resolved true Factual 25 Sep 2026 Thiel said he encouraged the person under discussion to write his book and supported him financially when he ran for the Senate in 2022. Factual · 25 Sep 2026 Their own work or organisation
Not checkable Not checkable 25 Sep 2026 I am a tough critic of China, and we must take the rivalry seriously, but it is too easy to blame China for everything. Not checkable · 25 Sep 2026
Not checkable Not checkable 25 Sep 2026 We have become so pessimistic that many people do not even expect a cure for Alzheimer's disease. Not checkable · 25 Sep 2026
Not checkable Not checkable 25 Sep 2026 I am still a Vance partisan, but I worry that either would have a hard time winning. Not checkable · 25 Sep 2026
Own records only Factual 25 Sep 2026 Thiel said he wrote the article quickly and sent it to a colleague to ask whether anything in it was too controversial. Factual · 25 Sep 2026 Their own work or organisation
Unresolvable Prediction 25 Sep 2026 In theory, AI could be slowed through deep worldwide cooperation, but that would require a world government with real power. Prediction · 25 Sep 2026 AI policy and governance
Not checkable Not checkable 25 Sep 2026 It does not follow that we should always go slower. Not checkable · 25 Sep 2026
Not checkable Not checkable 25 Sep 2026 The extremes will not solve that, but the center must take the reasons for their support seriously. Not checkable · 25 Sep 2026
Not checkable Not checkable 25 Sep 2026 There is a distinction between what is evil and what is merely bad at its job. Not checkable · 25 Sep 2026
Not checkable Not checkable 25 Sep 2026 Thiel says he may have been too harsh in responding to the Pope's AI warning. Not checkable · 25 Sep 2026
Mixed Factual 25 Sep 2026 Thiel said he sees much less urgency about AI among companies in Europe than in the US, and that in Europe the instinct is still to wait. Factual · 25 Sep 2026 AI policy and governance
Not checkable Not checkable 25 Sep 2026 When every gain seems to require somebody else's loss, society becomes more polarized and more zero-sum. Not checkable · 25 Sep 2026
Not checkable Not checkable 25 Sep 2026 At the same time, I think the AfD is wrong on all three. Not checkable · 25 Sep 2026
Not checkable Not checkable 25 Sep 2026 Germany is at the heart of Europe, and Europe remains at the core of Western civilization. Not checkable · 25 Sep 2026
Not checkable Not checkable 25 Sep 2026 A computer program simulating me would not be me. Not checkable · 25 Sep 2026
Unresolvable Factual 25 Sep 2026 Of the twenty Germans born in 1965 or later in Thiel's wealth comparison, all inherited their fortunes. Factual · 25 Sep 2026 Economics and markets
Mostly true Factual 25 Sep 2026 Thiel's 2009 article argued for depoliticization, a reduction in the intensity of politics. Factual · 25 Sep 2026 Their own work or organisation
Not checkable Not checkable 25 Sep 2026 I once thought my talks about the Antichrist were an especially unconventional answer. Not checkable · 25 Sep 2026
Not checkable Not checkable 25 Sep 2026 I think they systematically underestimate the scale of the problems. Not checkable · 25 Sep 2026
Not checkable Not checkable 2026 "The Communist Party of China is not going to listen to the pope," Thiel said, according to Politico. "There's a chance people in the US… Not checkable · 2026
Not checkable Not checkable 2026 don't do tomorrow what you can save for the day after. Not checkable · 2026
Not checkable Not checkable 2026 even 5 or 10% seems pretty bad Not checkable · 2026
Not checkable Not checkable 2026 it wouldn't be me, Not checkable · 2026
Not checkable Not checkable 2026 He went further, telling Döpfner that the pope was "at least acting as a useful idiot for the CCP," Not checkable · 2026
Not checkable Not checkable 2026 extremely hard to catch up Not checkable · 2026
Unresolvable Prediction 2026 Thiel said that in theory AI could be slowed with genuine, deep cooperation across the whole world, but that he thinks this would require something like a one world government with real teeth and real force. Prediction · 2026 AI policy and governance
Not checkable Not checkable 2026 the alternative of zero progress is "far from neutral," Not checkable · 2026
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Nov 2024 The modern world from maybe Renaissance onward has been this world of ever progressing scientific and technological development. Not checkable · 18 Nov 2024
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Nov 2024 my intuition is that in many places, there's been relative stagnation. Not checkable · 18 Nov 2024
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Nov 2024 And so when that slows, that's definitely felt as quite stagnant. Not checkable · 18 Nov 2024
Mostly true Factual 18 Nov 2024 A gunpowder revolution occurred in the 17th century and changed social and political structures. Factual · 18 Nov 2024 Technology
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Nov 2024 And the average PhD is 99% less productive than people were 100 years ago. Not checkable · 18 Nov 2024
Mostly false Factual 18 Nov 2024 When people were writing about these things in the 18th and even 19th centuries, the idea was that the world was too big to be destroyed and that God would not do it. Factual · 18 Nov 2024 Other global risks
Resolved true Factual 18 Nov 2024 Thousands of nuclear weapons, not just dozens, were built in the 1960s and 1970s. Factual · 18 Nov 2024 Other global risks
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Nov 2024 Under the rationalist view, you can't even talk about the end of your own life, let alone the end of the world. Not checkable · 18 Nov 2024
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Nov 2024 And then the real critique is that, you weren't supposed to infantilize our population and not talk about it. Not checkable · 18 Nov 2024
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Nov 2024 Humanity is not that dangerous at least in sort of the mainstream lock in Rousseauian accounts. Not checkable · 18 Nov 2024
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Nov 2024 There has been a narrow cone of progress around computers, the Internet, and maybe now artificial intelligence. Not checkable · 18 Nov 2024
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Nov 2024 And that's the risk of a totalitarian one-world government. Not checkable · 18 Nov 2024
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Nov 2024 But the explanation I believe, tech got scary. We're leery of it now, we're not embracing it in the way that we used to. Not checkable · 18 Nov 2024
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Nov 2024 And so, the kind of critique I have of Fauci is that, yeah, that's what he was scared of, I think. Not checkable · 18 Nov 2024
Unresolvable Factual 18 Nov 2024 Adam Smith used a pin factory metaphor, in the 19th century, of 100 people doing different tasks where nobody knows how to make a pin. Factual · 18 Nov 2024 Economics and markets
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Nov 2024 And I think there is a lot in this runaway science technology that's pushing us towards something like Armageddon. Not checkable · 18 Nov 2024
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Nov 2024 you can identify it with the good aspects of the Roman Empire, certain political aspects of the Roman Catholic Church, individuals. Not checkable · 18 Nov 2024
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Nov 2024 And the Christian intuition I have is, I don't want Antichrist, I don't want Armageddon. Not checkable · 18 Nov 2024
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Nov 2024 If you had a JFK as president on amphetamines going mano a mano with Khrushchev, it worked. Not checkable · 18 Nov 2024
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Nov 2024 There was a bunch of easy discoveries to make. Not checkable · 18 Nov 2024
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Nov 2024 You can say there's some parallel between the decline of the United States and the fall of the Roman Empire, but the differences are surely… Not checkable · 18 Nov 2024
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Nov 2024 But you can also criticize them for not being apocalyptic enough. Not checkable · 18 Nov 2024
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Nov 2024 And then Girard's intuition was that it's almost like when a knowledge becomes too real and too close. Not checkable · 18 Nov 2024
Unresolvable Factual 18 Nov 2024 Nuclear weapons were developed by 1945, making world-ending destruction real in a way that seemed implausible in the 17th and 18th centuries. Factual · 18 Nov 2024 Other global risks
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Nov 2024 But I would always maybe go back to the apocalyptic specter, would be Antichrist or Armageddon. Not checkable · 18 Nov 2024
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Nov 2024 It was, however, roughly, the right protocol if you thought it was a bioweapon. Not checkable · 18 Nov 2024
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Nov 2024 you're just a robot in a ever smaller cog, in an ever bigger machine or something like this. Not checkable · 18 Nov 2024
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Nov 2024 And now, nature's cupboard is kind of bare, and you have to reach really hard to make a modest discovery. Not checkable · 18 Nov 2024
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Nov 2024 the implicit solution to existential risks of all the other sorts is to lean in to a sort of very non-democratic, one-world state that will… Not checkable · 18 Nov 2024
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Nov 2024 And even as rigorous a subject area as mathematics in some ways has devolved into something close to literary theory, where one… Not checkable · 18 Nov 2024
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Nov 2024 My political, social intuition is that it's the height of your responsibility because that is just, in effect, hitting the accelerator… Not checkable · 18 Nov 2024
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Nov 2024 Maybe it doesn't become a godlike intelligence, which is some of the sort of futuristic transhumanist nonsense. Not checkable · 18 Nov 2024
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Nov 2024 I would like to find some narrow path between these two where we can avoid both. Not checkable · 18 Nov 2024
Mostly true Factual 18 Nov 2024 If technology means producing more with less, there should be dramatic economic progress, but there has not been, and millennials are not dramatically better off than their boomer parents. Factual · 18 Nov 2024 Economics and markets
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Peter Thiel

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Not checkable

“The moral question of our society, we have all these good vs. evil debates, and we're just full of badness.”

Peter Thiel 30 September 2026 Peter Thiel said, 'If you're evil, you're not bad.' Here's the context (Snopes)

The moral question of our society, we have all these good vs. evil debates, and we're just full of badness.

Not checkable An opinion, value judgement or statement with nothing to check.

Cite this claim

Peter Thiel, “The moral question of our society, we have all these good vs. evil debates, and we're just full of badness.” (said 30 September 2026). Verdict: not checkable. Reliability API, claim c_30c3d8b2da78, method 0.1.0+3e03e2df. https://epistacklabs.com/claims/c_30c3d8b2da78

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