Overview

Peter Thiel and the Antichrist Ross Douthat Interview refers to memes and discussions stemming from statements made by Palantir co-founder and billionaire investor Peter Thiel during a June 2025 interview with New York Times opinion columnist Ross Douthat. In one notable exchange, Douthat jokingly asked Thiel whether such a being would use the tools Thiel is building. The line of inquiry went viral due to Thiel's slow, stammering response. Douthat also asked Thiel if he hoped the human race would survive, leading Thiel to hesitate again and reply that he wasn't "opposed to that." Internet users also zeroed in on what they perceived as Thiel's sweaty and flushed complexion during the interview, prompting a wave of commentary, memes and speculation about his appearance in late June 2025.

Background

On June 26th, 2025, New York Times Opinions columnist Ross Douthat posted an episode of his podcast Interesting Times with Ross Douthat in which he interviewed Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel.

At the 45:46 timestamp, Douthat asks Thiel to elaborate on his concept of the "Antichrist," asking, "You’re an investor in AI… technologies of surveillance and warfare… wouldn’t the Antichrist be using the tools you're building? After a noticeable pause, Thiel responds, "There are all these different scenarios. I obviously don't think that's what I'm doing."

A YouTube^[1] upload of the hour-long interview gathered over 180,000 views in four days.

Douthat also published a New York Times^[2] editorial titled "Peter Thiel and the Antichrist" on June 26th, transcribing his interview with the tech entrepreneur.

Online Reactions

On June 28th, 2025, Redditor /u/ufosloth posted a clip from the Thiel-Douthat interview to the /r/PublicFreakout^[3] subreddit, writing, "Palantir’s Peter Thiel is asked if his company is creating technology that the anti-Christ would support." The post received over 5,400 upvotes and 510 comments in two days.

On June 27th, Twitter / X^[4] user @golub tweeted. "That awkward moment Peter Thiel realized he might be the very Antichrist he warned about," gathering over 24,000 likes in three days.

That awkward moment Peter Thiel realized he might be the very Antichrist he warned about
pic.twitter.com/D9JvGARDtD

— Mykhaïlo Golub (@golub) June 27, 2025

Also on June 27th, 2025, X^[5] user @jasonwblakely tweeted, "Watch Ross Douthat realize for a moment in real time that he's spent a decade making ideological bedfellows with a techno-futurist, fascist Right that wants to see the birth of a 'machine god' & is in no way enthusiastic about the survival of the human race in universal terms." The post gathered over 5,000 likes in three days.

That same day, X^[6] user @bdquinn quoted a video of Ross Douthat's interview with Peter Thiel, writing, "What is Peter Thiel doing to his body to make him look like that? He looks like garbage." The post gathered over 7,000 likes in three days.

On June 28th, X^[7] user @sidereal111 posted a screenshot from Peter Thiel's interview with NYT columnist Ross Douthat, writing, "Tfw the interviewer hits you with tricky gotchas like "are you the anti-christ?" and "do you hope the human race continues to exist?," and gathering over 48,000 likes in two days.

That same day, X^[9] user @sterlingcrispin posted an AI-generated image showing Thiel posing with the Rizz 'em with The 'tism Girl, Rachael Lerman. The post gathered over 7,000 likes in two days.

On June 29th, 2025, X^[8] user @Jetskigrizzly tweeted an image of Peter Thiel looking into the distance during his interview with NYT columnist Ross Douthat, edited to place him against a rolling wave. The tweet read, "Stimulant maxxing with 3 cups of coffee, 36mg of Adderall, and a zyn just to say 'nothing from my end' on a zoom call." The post gathered over 3,000 likes in a day.

Also that day, X^[10] user @acidhorizonpod tweeted a variation of an AI-generated meme showing Peter Thiel taking a selfie, showing him posing with an edit of JD Vance. The post gathered over 50,000 likes in a day.

Search Interest

External References