Tim Dillon says Sam Altman and Peter Thiel are literally trying to summon a Sumerian demon with AI.

Comedian Tim Dillon has ignited a viral online conversation with a provocative claim made on his podcast: that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and billionaire investor Peter Thiel are engaged in a literal, modern-day occult ritual. Dillon framed the rapid development of advanced artificial intelligence not merely as a technological pursuit, but as an attempt to 'summon a Sumerian demon,' tapping into deep-seated cultural anxieties about creating entities beyond human control. His satirical commentary struck a chord, resonating with a public increasingly fascinated and fearful of AI's potential trajectory.

The viral response saw social media users compiling lists of iconic 'evil' AIs from fiction, from the murderous HAL 9000 in *2001: A Space Odyssey* to the global consciousness Skynet in *Terminator* and the god-complex SHODAN from *System Shock*. This collective referencing highlights how Dillon's joke effectively channels a broader, more serious cultural narrative: the fear that in seeking to create god-like intelligence, we might inadvertently build our own obsolescence or doom. While presented as humor, the underlying discussion reflects genuine professional and philosophical debates about AI alignment, safety, and the almost-mythological power ascribed to entities like large language models (LLMs) and artificial general intelligence (AGI).