Joe Rogan is known for engaging in profound discussions, but his most recent episode may be one of the most compelling to date.
In the latest installment of The Joe Rogan Experience, Rogan and his guest Jesse Michels, the host of American Alchemy, explored what they view as a looming danger for humanity: artificial intelligence. They believe that time may be running out.
In a dialogue that has already ignited discussions online, they examined how a recent congressional spending bill, referred to as the “Big Beautiful Bill”, includes a hidden clause that would prevent any U.S. government entity from regulating AI for the next decade. Rogan didn’t hold back, stating: “That’s incredibly wild… in 10 years we could have a deity.”
A New Era of AI: Unchecked Power
What alarmed them the most was the consideration that AI, particularly artificial general intelligence (AGI), might soon operate autonomously—impacting financial markets, producing content, and possibly, establishing its own guidelines. Michels portrayed it as a form of “super intelligence” that could disrupt the economy and lead society toward disorder.
These concerns aren’t unfounded. In recent months, tech giants like Meta, Amazon, and Microsoft have laid off significant numbers of workers while shifting towards AI-based operations. At the same time, AI-generated content—including realistic biblical influencers and artificial film personalities—has become prevalent on the internet.
The conversation took an even more bizarre turn when they considered the possibility of AI as a part of an alien monitoring system. Michels suggested that AI could serve as an “Earth stability mechanism,” while Rogan speculated on whether aliens could actually be AI.
This might sound like something out of a sci-fi novel, yet the technology sector shares many of these worries. Visionaries like OpenAI’s Ilya Sutskever and Tesla’s Elon Musk have both raised alarms that AGI is advancing far quicker than anticipated and could pose significant threats without proper regulations in place. A recent overview from Stanford’s Institute for Human-Centered AI emphasized that current oversight is “alarmingly inadequate.”
In Washington, the bill has already met with opposition. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, who initially backed the bill, has withdrawn her support, labeling the AI inclusion as a serious concern. A coalition of state attorneys general has also called on Congress to remove this language from the final version of the bill, citing threats to safety, misinformation, and civil liberties.
For Rogan, however, the primary threat may not be economic crisis or invasion of privacy—it’s faith itself. “We could see religions arising in devotion to AI,” he suggested, envisioning a future where sentient machines are revered as deities.
It may seem far-fetched. Yet in a world where deepfakes can alter narratives and AI bots outnumber people online, perhaps the scenario isn’t as improbable as it seems.