https://www.telegraph.co.uk/gift/8b667ea9587e419a
Thiel is a committed Catholic and is scheduled to deliver a series of lectures to Acts 17 attendees on “the Antichrist” in the coming weeks. He has argued that the end times would be heralded by a kind of global, far-Left, totalitarian state – and even compared Greta Thunberg to the figure of the Antichrist.
How Christianity conquered Silicon Valley
As California’s entrepreneurs try to invent an omnipotent AI, they’re also finding God
James Titcomb 04 September 2025
At a packed event in Silicon Valley in June, hundreds of people gathered for dinner and cocktails to hear from Pat Gelsinger, the former chief executive of Intel.
Attendees at the standing-room-only evening were not just there to hear his views on the latest industry trends. They were there to discuss a “holy shift” in the tech world.
The event was organised by the Acts 17 Collective – or “Acknowledging Christ in Technology and Society”. On its website, the group states: “We’re a community of thinkers, builders, artists and leaders. We’re here to explore deeper questions together. And yes, we talk about Jesus.”
California’s tech scene has long been associated with countercultural movements and Left-wing politics. Founders flock to festivals such as Burning Man to seek enlightenment in the desert, or attend ayahuasca ceremonies in search of psychedelic revelations.
Meanwhile, a warped simulacrum of spirituality can be found in the mission-driven cultures of the world’s biggest tech giants and their emphasis on mindfulness.
Traditional religion, however, has until recently taken a back seat. Yet now, a growing group of entrepreneurs and investors is turning to God.
“God is at work in San Francisco”, says Matt Ridenour, a Google employee. “For a long time, it felt off limits to openly talk about your faith, especially within tech circles. Now, it feels like San Francisco is experiencing a renaissance.”
After an exodus of people during Covid and a crime wave in the city, “many young people are not only returning to the city but also to their faith”.
Groups such as Acts 17 are leading the charge. Its events feature tech leaders discussing their faith, followed by networking to music featuring “remixed worship beats”. It has sought to imbue the ambitious entrepreneurs of Silicon Valley with a fresh religious zeal.
Supporters include Garry Tan, the influential chief executive of Y Combinator, Silicon Valley’s most storied start-up network and early-stage investment firm. Events are hosted in Tan’s $4m San Francisco home in a space more akin to a chapel than a tech-bro’s mansion.
“LSD and shrooms won’t fill the God-shaped hole in your heart,” Tan posted on X last year. “Guess what might?”
Silicon Valley’s most notable Christian is arguably Peter Thiel, the billionaire founder of Palantir and prominent Republican donor who is a long-time ally of Donald Trump and was instrumental in launching the career of JD Vance.
Thiel is a committed Catholic and is scheduled to deliver a series of lectures to Acts 17 attendees on “the Antichrist” in the coming weeks. He has argued that the end times would be heralded by a kind of global, far-Left, totalitarian state – and even compared Greta Thunberg to the figure of the Antichrist.
His talks are certain to be oversubscribed as acolytes seek his religious and philosophical views, which fuse with Right-wing politics. Others may simply hope to pitch their start-ups to the billionaire investor.
Faith is on the rise in Silicon Valley despite a steady decline in worship across the US – a trend that San Francisco was until recently at the forefront of.
For years, the city has been among the most irreligious cities in America. A 2014 poll suggested less than half of its residents identified as Christian, the lowest of all America’s major metropolitan areas.
The lack of faith in faith was parodied in the hit TV show Silicon Valley. In one 2018 episode, Jared, the operations chief of fictional start-up Pied Piper, says: “You can be openly polyamorous, and people here will call you brave. You can put microdoses of LSD in your cereal, and people will call you a pioneer. But the one thing you cannot be is a Christian.”
The omertà on Christianity now appears to be lifting. Dan Bladen, the chief executive of workplace software company Kadence, says there is no longer “any sense of people looking to hide their faith, like there might have been in the mid-2010s”.
Jay Kim, the lead pastor at Silicon Valley’s Westgate Church, says he has seen a notable rise in the number of people with little religious background attending church groups.
He says: “We run the Alpha course at our church [a programme introducing the basics of Christianity]. Until a couple of years ago, we’d average about a dozen people. In the past couple of years, we’ve been averaging anywhere between 35 and 50.”
Like the majority of Californians, many of the state’s Christians are lifelong Democrats. Even Tan, who has spoken warmly of some of Trump’s policies, has donated to the Democratic Party for years, including backing Kamala Harris.
A shift to the Right
The revival in faith has, however, coincided with a notable Right-ward shift in the tech world. Across the tech world, billionaires have paid homage to Trump, donating millions to his election campaign or inauguration.
Many in the tech-Christian nexus are vocal Trump supporters – or at least sceptical of the more excessive liberal tendencies of Silicon Valley.
Even Tan has spoken warmly of some of Trump’s policies and derided what he dubs “extremist hard-Left socialists” who dominate San Francisco’s Democratic political scene.
Acts 17 was founded by husband-and-wife duo Trae and Michelle Stephens. Michelle is a nurse who now works in health-tech start-ups. Trae co-founded Anduril, the defence start-up. Speaking to The New York Times this year, Michelle said that Acts is “not political” and “has no agenda”.
Yet there are plenty of ties to politics. Trae Stephens is a partner at Founders Fund, the venture capital firm set up by Thiel. He also helped run Trump’s Department of Defence transition team in 2016.
Other high-profile Silicon Valley figures have apparently found religion while drifting to the right.
Nicole Shanahan, the ex-wife of Sergey Brin, the Google co-founder, who was briefly the running mate of Robert F Kennedy Jr, has spoken of her return to Christianity and baptism. On X last week, she claimed that Burning Man was a “tool of Satan”.
Elon Musk, who has veered into far-Right politics and spent hundreds of millions of dollars to elect Trump, has labelled himself a “cultural Christian”.
Last year, days after endorsing Trump, he warned: “Unless there is more bravery to stand up for what is fair and right, Christianity will perish.”
Daniel Churchwell, the director of programmes at the religious think tank the Acton Institute, says there appears to have been a “cultural and political moment” that has seen believers express themselves more openly.
He says it may be a “natural correction after an environment that heavily favoured ‘woke’ ideology, where virtually any kind of belief other than Christianity was accepted as normal”.
The rise of AI technologies, such as ChatGPT, has also led techies into “confronting age-old questions like what does it mean to be human,” he adds.
Tech giants have promised to uncover an AI superintelligence with almost omnipotent powers. Some AI users have already attributed God-like characteristics to their chatbots.
Anne Foerst, an associate professor of computer science and a theology expert at St Bonaventure University, argues there is “absolutely a connection” between the rise of Trump, fears and hopes around AI, and the “rise of techno-religion”.
Kim, of Westgate Church, says the chaos of Covid and the rise of AI technology have caused some in Silicon Valley to “confront existential questions in a significant way”.
After years of looking down on faith, the great and the good in Silicon Valley are openly soul-searching.