National conservatives call for “holy war” against AI at NatCon

National conservative speakers at the recent NatCon conference overwhelmingly opposed artificial intelligence development, with some calling for a “holy war” against AI developers. The hostility was so intense that it prompted discussions about unlikely alliances with labor unions to resist technological change, revealing a significant ideological divide within conservative politics on AI policy.

What they’re saying: The rhetoric against AI was particularly harsh, with speakers attacking both the technology and its creators.

• Geoffrey Miller, a psychology professor at the University of New Mexico, called AI developers “betrayers of our species, traitors to our nation, apostates to our faith, and threats to our kids” during a panel titled “AI and the American Soul.”
• Miller described the AI industry as “by and large, globalist, secular, liberal, feminized transhumanists” who “explicitly want mass unemployment, they plan for UBI-based communism, and they view the human species as a biological ‘bootloader,’ as they say, for artificial superintelligence.”
• Steve Bannon warned during closing remarks: “Yes, artificial intelligence could have tremendous upsides. But you’re looking into a bottomless pit. It’s a downside that nobody understands and nobody can articulate.”

The lone dissenter: Shyam Sankar, Palantir’s chief technology officer, faced intense pushback when arguing that tech founders were as heroic as the Founding Fathers.

• Sankar was directly confronted by Miller during the conference for his pro-AI stance.
• By the end of NatCon, “no one seemed to agree with Sankar,” according to the report.

Surprising alliances: The anti-AI sentiment was strong enough to prompt calls for cooperation with traditionally liberal labor unions.

• Michael Toscano, director of the Family First Technology Initiative, argued that unions “have a long history of confronting technological change and should be treated as sources of experience and knowledge, rather than a historical dead weight force for anti-modernization.”
• Toscano suggested that if Trump brought together the right wing and unions against AI, “he would go down in history as one of America’s greatest presidents, if not the man who saved the future.”

Why this matters: The widespread opposition challenges assumptions about conservative support for American technological dominance, even when framed as competition with China.

• Speakers weren’t swayed by arguments about beating Chinese AI development or Trump’s own support for projects like Stargate.
• Toscano criticized the state’s rationale for AI acceleration, saying the message of “we must beat China and grow the economy” represents “a barren life” where Americans must “part ways with everything — including a happier future for your children and grandchildren.”

The big picture: This represents a potential fracture within conservative politics between tech-friendly and populist factions, with implications for future AI policy and regulation under conservative leadership.