Slowing down on AI will cause preventable deaths — and that's a form of murder, says Marc Andreessen

• Billionaire investor Marc Andreessen posted a mammoth 5000-word techno-optimist manifesto on Monday.
• "We believe any deceleration of AI will cost lives. Deaths that were preventable by the AI that was prevented from existing is a form of murder," wrote Andreessen.
• The wide-ranging manifesto also includes a section naming "sustainability" and "social responsibility" as the enemy.

Billionaire investor Marc Andreessen published on Monday a mammoth 5,000-word "techno-optimist manifesto," outlining a long list of views, including the notion that slowing down on AI development is equivalent to murder.

Techno-optimism is the belief that technology can solve major social and environmental problems.

Andreessen wrote that he believes AI is a universal problem solver: "There are scores of common causes of death that can be fixed with AI, from car crashes to pandemics to wartime friendly fire."

"We believe any deceleration of AI will cost lives. Deaths that were preventable by the AI that was prevented from existing is a form of murder," wrote Marc Andreessen. 

In his wide-ranging and fifteen-part manifesto, Andreessen also articulated several other views — like calling out "sustainability," "social responsibility," and "risk management" as the enemy. "Our enemies are not bad people – but rather bad ideas, "Andreessen wrote.

Writing about the importance of the free market, Andreessen said: "Love doesn't scale, so the economy can only run on money or force."

This isn't the first time that Andreessen has shared his techno-optimist views. He published a blog post in June arguing that "AI will save the world" and that government agencies and those seeking regulation on AI should get out of the way.

His views mark a significant contrast from other tech leaders — like Elon Musk and Sam Altman — who have warned of the threat that AI poses to society if left unchecked.

Andreessen — who is worth $1.8 billion per Forbes' estimate — is a cofounder and general partner of venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. This year, his company led a $50 million seed round for AI health startup Hippocratic AI and a $150 million funding round for chatbot startup Character.AI. 

The manifesto carried a disclaimer that the views expressed in it are those of the author, and not the views of a16z.

Andreessen and Andreessen Horowitz did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Insider, sent outside regular business hours.