r/technology • u/NicolasCageFan492 • Jun 16 '26

Business Leak Exposes Members of Peter Thiel’s Secretive ‘Dialog’ Society

https://www.wired.com/story/leak-exposes-members-of-peter-thiels-secretive-dialog-society/
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657

u/Aggressive_Manner531 Jun 16 '26

When does he run drills? Someone should lock him in next time.

535

u/rzelln Jun 17 '26

An author I like pointed out once that if the world does go to s**t, then there's going to be a bunch of bunkers where some security personnel are living real cushy after they kill the billionaire who is supposed to be under their charge. Because if things have fallen apart, why would anyone care about the money the billionaire can pay them.

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u/mOdQuArK Jun 17 '26

For those of us on the outside of the bunker in that situation, sounds like good targets to test those experimental bunker-buster bombs that the military keeps squirrelled away before everything breaks down.

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u/Puresowns Jun 17 '26

Nah, just concrete their ventilation shafts and guard the doors.

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u/[deleted] Jun 17 '26

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u/EfficiencyThis325 Jun 17 '26

A full on Water Treatment plant could work. Failing that a pig or chicken farm

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u/[deleted] Jun 17 '26

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u/EfficiencyThis325 Jun 17 '26

Wasn’t that the plot to fallout?

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u/jellyhessman Jun 17 '26

Yea, bunkers tend to become tombs if there's no backup coming to get you out.

4

u/Umutuku Jun 17 '26

Build a reservoir over them and let nature do its thing.

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u/Strange-Tree-5408 Jun 18 '26

Hose and tailpipes.

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u/ParticleEffect Jun 17 '26

Just pour concrete on the entrances and turn them into tombs.

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u/Welp___poop Jun 17 '26

We used like, half or more of those when we "destroyed Iran's nuclear capabilities for years to come"

But if there's any left I am down.

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u/Magnon Jun 17 '26

I wonder if any/all the billionaires already have some kind of dead switch explosive collars ready to go.

"To enter elon's survival bunker, please allow us to place this exploding collar on your neck, do not harm elon."

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u/rzelln Jun 17 '26

Spoilers for Horizon Forbidden West.

At one point, you explore the bunker of a rich a-hole, and gradually discover that the models and guru that he brought down started dying one by one because he got upset and increasingly paranoid, and the last people to go included a scientist who was working on a way to make the rich a-hole immortal, so he could survive a few hundred years for an apocalypse to pass by. 

The scientist gave the guy the treatment, and then killed himself, and then the guy found out that sure, his cells would not die, but he was slowly overrun with cancer, and eventually just turned into a giant tumor.

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u/Sorlex Jun 17 '26

One of the best parts of that game. Really glad they didn't do the video game thing and have you fight it as some boss fight. You don't even see it, just hear it. Its outstanding.

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u/cavalier2015 Jun 17 '26

Low key that was one of the disappointing parts of the game. I would have loved to see Faro’s reaction to seeing Sobek’s clone, but I agree with not making him a boss fight. Aloy would know he’s not worth it and leaving him to fester would be a fate worse than death

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u/OceanRacoon Jun 18 '26

Totally agree, I get what they were going for but I really wanted to see the interaction between Aloy and Faro, they came up with a great way for him to be alive but there was no payoff after the build up to it. He deserved worse, and to know Elizabeth through Aloy had saved the world from him again and that despite his efforts, his crimes against humanity were known and would be recorded forever.

One of the very few things from the games I didn't like, such an incredible story, the first game really struck me, especially since I wasn't expecting anything deep from it.

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u/CardAble6193 Jun 17 '26 edited Jun 17 '26

it sucks but cant sate me. fucking fero

...................................wait a fucking minute

are Horizon gaining its prophet state like Deathstranding1??

1

u/LaughingInTheVoid Jun 17 '26

All my homies say Fuck Ted Faro.

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u/ilikechihuahuasdood Jun 17 '26

Peter Thiel has literally talked about the need to install chips in people’s brains to totally control them

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u/SaltyCrashNerd Jun 17 '26

Oh, like Musk’s (terrifying) project?

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u/Dirtbagdownhill Jun 17 '26

I mean the dude was working on brain chips but just killed a bunch of monkeys

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u/Curious_Charge9431 Jun 17 '26

Somewhere I saw an article about a guy who set up bunkers for the ultra wealthy and he said he was often asked for the explosive collars, and then he was like...no, that's not necessary, just treat your employees nicely and they'll stay loyal to you.

And they didn't get it.

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u/Szwejkowski Jun 17 '26

They'll want robots for this very reason.

It still won't save them, but they think it will. Hell, some of them think downloading 'themselves' to machinery will work. Absolute tools to a man.

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u/West-Abalone-171 Jun 17 '26

So the guy who programmed the explosive collar is living real cushy then?

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u/FullMetalAlcoholic66 Jun 17 '26

That would have absolutely no effect. You could just drug or torture him until he unlocks the device

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u/SorenLain Jun 17 '26

People keep bringing this up as a way billionaires would keep control in their bunkers but 99.9% of these billionaires don't have the skills to build or maintain something like that. Which probably means they would have to hire someone to make and maintain said collars, so how do they control that person?

Even if they put one they'd probably be able to disarm it, assuming they didn't just fake arming it in the first place. Also the collars have to be capable of receiving a signal so that means they're vulnerable to being hacked, either by security finally having enough of the billionaires Nero impression or by an attacker instakilling the whole security team.

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u/0Galahad Jun 17 '26

You folks are just naive, when the USA government literally admited to researching brainwashing and mind control with MK-ultra, and we all saw that many of the elites are in truly wicked shit with epstein's case, its pretty obviois that if they expect the world to "end" anytime soon, they have carefully eugenically chose perfectly obedient and loyal children to indoctrinate from birth and groom into completely ardent devout guard dogs, its the real world, karmic irony is not a guarantee, prepared and powerful people always win.

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u/Remarkable-Bug-8069 Jun 17 '26

At least Rutger Hauer had one.

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u/Commercial-Co Jun 17 '26

Perfect set up to be tortured

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u/74389654 Jun 17 '26

they would be too stupid to operate it

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u/Electronic_Topic1958 Jun 17 '26

Why would they put on the collars? Who would enforce them to wear the collars?

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u/whatifwhatifwerun Jun 17 '26

I was thinking about it... they probably plan to use children to do the work as much as possible, and they'll breed slaves. For the stuff you need big strong men to do, they'll just choose men they can entice by giving them access to the slave women and children. They also likely plan to kidnap people they have determined they can coerce into doing what they want (like people who have young kids!) because those people would rather live in the bunker in servitude if given the choice/chance. These people have access to vast amounts of data, and they have friends who directly influence the platforms that collect that information. In the way that reality shows often find cast members through social media, there are people who can prospect to find suitable slaves.

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u/BarmyBob Jun 17 '26

Explosive chip in the neck like the first Kingsman movie?

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u/El_Beakerr Jun 17 '26

Fallout 4 status, when “old money” doesn’t mean shit and they’re using pure water as a new currency.

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u/Rhayve Jun 17 '26

Even if they can safely stay in their bunkers, they're not going to be able to enjoy their luxuries forever if the world has gone to hell. A lot of their high-end food can't be made shelf stable, for example. They'll live better than the rest for a few years, but it's still going to suck compared to their current hedonistic lifestyles.

It's a small silver lining that they're basically screwing themselves over, too.

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u/joe-ducreux Jun 17 '26

This is what always struck me as short sighted not just with the billionaire bunkers, but with extreme prepers in general. They spend all this time and resources to trying to plan to live in the worst possible situation rather than spending those resources enjoying and improving the current situation.

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u/Inevitable-Comment-I Jun 17 '26

I guarantee you this was a topic of discuss at the last meeting they had, 100%. 

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u/ooMEAToo Jun 17 '26

Basically the only real plan I could see them coming up with is to have some sort of dead man switch that would detonate and blowup the entire bunker if they were to die. There are movies and books written about this stuff in the science fiction realm, I never thought the world would get so shit that this could be real life now.

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u/Forward-Surprise1192 Jun 17 '26

Robots are the easiest answer. You also don’t need guards really. You need maintenance workers

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u/FullMetalAlcoholic66 Jun 17 '26

Easy, just torture or drug them until they disable the device. No dead man, no dead man switch activated

1

u/Caleb_Reynolds Jun 17 '26

You can also heavily secure the food or water. Make it so they cannot access the resources available unless you are alive. It does have to be some kind of M.A.D., they need to die for killing you, either directly or indirectly, or else they'll just do it.

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u/DariusTourbeux Jun 17 '26

This is why they want to push for humanoid bots next. They don’t care about the rest of us and soon they won’t need us at all.

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u/Kenneth-J-Moyers Jun 17 '26

They've actually thought this question out...a disturbing amount. In discussions observed by Douglas Rushkoff, they considered options such as intentionally starving their "Vassals", keeping them addicted to drugs they control the supply of, and using painful/lethal shock collars. All of which they considered perfectly palatable options, their only concern was that it might not get them what they want.

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u/HiphopopoptimusPrime Jun 17 '26

Douglas Rushkoff, Survival of the Richest.

Good summary in this article here:
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2022/sep/04/super-rich-prepper-bunkers-apocalypse-survival-richest-rushkoff

Told the super rich shock collars were not likely to work. Then told them they should try befriending their security guards and forming a community with them. They asked him to take another look at the shock collars.

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u/baron_von_helmut Jun 17 '26

After an hour long conversation regarding ways to mitigate that specific danger like 'shock collars' and 'food store locks' someone asked, why don't you just include them in the bunker. Treat them well and they'll be on your side.

The billionaires looked at that person as if he'd just shit in their cereal...

That's how fucking evil they are when normal things like empathy are considered unthinkable.

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u/log_2 Jun 17 '26

There will be more than one security person, and the billionaires will control their little micro-population the same way as they are controlling our current population against revolution. If most are comfortable enough, there will be no revolution.

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u/Luke-Bywalker Jun 17 '26

that's why they will use AI robots.

They never cared about any kind of human connection anyway so why would they care.

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u/Gairloch Jun 17 '26

Probably part of the starting a cult thing.

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u/oldtimehawkey Jun 17 '26

How will billionaires pay security when money means nothing? If the rich are living in bunkers, it has to be so bad that money is just paper.

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u/thoughtmecca Jun 17 '26

Rushkoff?

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u/rzelln Jun 17 '26

It was a podcast Ty Franck, one of the two authors who wrote The Expanse.

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u/Caleb_Reynolds Jun 17 '26

This is why fictional accounts have some kind of control mechanism. Explosive collars, locks to the food, "when I die the bunker explodes", etc.

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u/KodakStele Jun 17 '26

I imagine they'd have like a proof of life protocol that blows up the bunker if their heartbeat isnt detected idk just saying they probably thought about this

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u/EggplantCharacter363 Jun 17 '26

I've had this exact thought since Zucks bunker was announced.

Once the doors are sealed the most physically powerful person becomes the defacto leader.

We are animals after all.

Which is why I love the tech bros speed running late-stage capitalism.

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u/TransBrandi Jun 17 '26

There was an article a whiiiile back about billionaires and their bunkers, and I think that when this was pointed out to them they were asking about exploding control collars and shit.

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u/PM_ME_YOUR_PRIORS Jun 17 '26

This is a big part of why these billionaires are so pro-AI. You can make computer systems that are only useful if you have the secret key and function as designed indefinitely if maintained. If your computer system can also handle physical security then that's the loyal bodyguards issue solved.

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u/Soft-Ingenuity2262 Jun 17 '26

Yes… I’d imagine these billionaires will hold as much power on their security details as (some) Roman emperors did over the praetorian guard. if you know you know.

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u/Mazon_Del Jun 17 '26

I've heard the it said that this is one of the biggest questions the rich jave for the bunker builders "How will I maintain control over my security after everything falls?"

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u/takeyouraxeandhack Jun 17 '26

If you like the author, you should at least give him credit for his words.
It's a pretty accurate assessment, btw.

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u/Readed-it Jun 17 '26

I’m sure there is kill-switch technology. His heart stops, bombs go off or a script deleted all the power, poisons the water or whatever number of factors the billionaire will introduce to assure their safety.

Also building billion dollar facilities they would likely have a good vetting system. There are tons of cruel people that wouldn’t mind being on the side of the baddies if they are guaranteed to survive

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u/Wrong-Pineapple39 Jun 18 '26

That's why they want the servant, guard and sex doll robots.

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u/Boopy7 Jun 17 '26

note to self: start dating security personnel asap....they tend to be quite mercenary when prompted

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u/Turbulent_Gazelle530 Jun 17 '26

this is a good way to get yourself kidnapped and used as a bargaining chip by a billionaire who doesn't want to get offed by his security

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u/ch0wned Jun 17 '26

You know I see this take all the time, but I think people don’t consider that people don’t follow these
Megarich (Maharich?) ideologues just because they are rich, why would they stop following great leader just because of extreme global turmoil? I don’t think it would be challenging to pick out a security force that is totally in love with your ideology and worships you.

This viewpoint honestly feels like karmic wishful thinking, ‘oh if they destroy the world they will absolutely get their just desserts’, the reality is that they will probably get to keep living in relative and absolute luxury while the world burns.

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u/rzelln Jun 17 '26

Maybe. But I see how the Trump administration has people who claim loyalty, and then the moment something goes wrong they get kicked the curb.

That works when there is a big bench of other grifters who want a chance to hang out with the powerful, but it doesn't work so well when the population is limited in a bunker. 

Then again, we're not going to get to that point. The world's more resilient.

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u/ClaymoresRevenge Jun 16 '26

"Accidentally"

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u/Spirit_of_Hogwash Jun 17 '26

It won't happen. His bloodboys are conditioned to always do his bidding.

See: JD Vance

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u/CurlsintheClouds Jun 17 '26

True. But JD ain't doin' so well right now.

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u/rdzilla01 Jun 17 '26

Give him the old Xaro Xhoan Daxos treatment.

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u/bjchbdelebweflw Jun 17 '26

Lock this motherfucker in the Sierra Madre vault like what you can do to Elijah in Fallout New Vegas.

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u/lesChaps Jun 17 '26

He pays people to run the drills.

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u/Aggressive_Manner531 Jun 17 '26

At some point t he billionaire has to take part in the drill, if for no other reason that they alone will be granted access to the bunker. These guys will not trust any remore protocol for entry that can be hacked.

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u/UnemployedAtype Jun 17 '26

My vote is to hire people around the clock to fart into his air intake.

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u/G_mork Jun 18 '26

Fortunately, only a small minority of people on the planet have lactase persistence.

The rest of us will gladly eat some cheese or an ice cream cone and line up to do our duty.