Billionaire biohacker Bryan Johnson has once again sparked global debate — this time urging the world to step away from the race for artificial intelligence dominance and focus instead on defeating death itself. In a detailed post shared on X (formerly Twitter), Johnson said humanity is at a turning point as AI advances toward superintelligence.
According to him, governments and corporations should stop competing in technological supremacy and instead unite to preserve biological life. “Superintelligence is in the birth canal on planet Earth,” Johnson wrote. “If control is limited, the only rational act is alignment. We align with life itself.”
Defeating death must be humanity’s #1 objective.
— Bryan Johnson (@bryan_johnson) October 5, 2025
Big things are happening right now in our small corner of the galaxy. The most important: super intelligence is in the birth canal on planet earth. Companies and countries are racing towards it. The financial, military, and…
From Tech Billionaire to Biohacker Visionary
Bryan Johnson, 47, is best known as the founder of Braintree, the payments company he sold to PayPal for around $800 million in 2013. After achieving financial success, he shifted his focus to understanding and reversing human ageing through his personal science experiment — Project Blueprint.
Project Blueprint is one of the world’s most ambitious longevity programs. Johnson reportedly spends $2 million a year on his efforts to maintain youth and extend life. His strict daily routine includes hyperbaric oxygen therapy, red light therapy, a plant-based diet, and constant biometric tracking to measure every aspect of his body’s performance.
He has often said his mission is not just about looking young, but about “evolution, not deterioration.” Johnson’s radical lifestyle has drawn both fascination and scepticism, but his latest message shifts the focus from personal longevity to a collective human mission.
“Defeating Death” – A New Global Priority
In his latest post, Bryan Johnson argued that humanity’s most urgent mission is no longer technological dominance, but the preservation of life itself. He believes moral and cultural priorities must evolve from profit-driven innovation to survival-driven collaboration.
He wrote that as AI grows in power, humans must decide what kind of intelligence they want to create — one that destroys or one that protects. “A peaceful civilisation could produce a guardian,” he said, “while a destructive one might create a predator.”
Johnson called this new moral framework the “Four Layers of Don’t Die”, a model that integrates the value of life into every human system — from personal habits to global politics.
The Four Layers of “Don’t Die”
1. Individual: Resisting the “Big Die”
Johnson urged individuals to resist what he calls “Big Die” — everyday habits that destroy health and shorten life. This includes excessive consumption, junk food, smoking, doom-scrolling, and seeking instant gratification.
He believes people must take responsibility for their own biological survival by adopting healthier, more mindful lifestyles.
2. Capital and Culture: Redefining Value
Johnson’s second layer targets economic and cultural systems. He proposed that “health become the new GDP”, meaning societies should measure prosperity not by financial growth but by collective well-being.
Industries that promote longevity, sustainability, and health should be rewarded, while those that harm life should be restructured or phased out.
3. Political: Protecting the Right to Exist
On a political level, Bryan Johnson suggested that governance must evolve to include the “right to persist” — the right for humans to continue existing — and the “duty to preserve life.”
He called on leaders to create policies that protect biological existence as a fundamental human right.
4. Technological: Aligning AI With Life
Finally, Johnson emphasized that artificial intelligence must be aligned with life itself. He believes AI systems should be trained to value vitality, empathy, and sustainability — learning from a civilisation that chooses to live.
“The way AI develops,” he wrote, “depends on the moral examples set by its human creators.”
A Shift from Science to Moral Philosophy
Johnson’s ideas have long drawn criticism from parts of the medical community, which argues that ageing and mortality have biological limits. However, his latest statement moves beyond science into the realm of ethics and existential philosophy.
By placing mortality in a moral context, Johnson suggests that humanity’s next evolution lies in consciously rejecting death as inevitable. He compared his vision to past civilisational awakenings, such as the discovery that Earth revolves around the Sun, the abolition of slavery, and the recognition of universal human rights.
“If history is a record of awakenings, this is the next,” he wrote. “A civilisation that chooses not to die teaches intelligence what it means to live.”
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The Future According to Bryan Johnson
Bryan Johnson’s call to “defeat death” challenges the world to rethink progress itself. Instead of using technology to compete or dominate, he envisions a future where innovation serves the ultimate purpose — preserving life.
“Our task,” Johnson concluded, “is not to predict the future, but to preserve the possibility of one.”
Whether his ideas will shape global policy or remain philosophical musings, Johnson has undeniably reignited an important discussion: in an age of artificial intelligence, can humanity learn to value life more than power?
