Silicon Valley's elite wants yet again to abandon land and live on floating cities in the middle of the ocean that operate outside of existing governments
Trending News
Over a decade ago, Silicon Valley billionaire investor and Trump advisor Peter Thiel poured $1.7 million into a mission to erect floating, politically autonomous cities in the middle of the ocean.
He has since backtracked on his dream of the libertarian utopia, as Business Insider's Melia Russell reported in January 2017. But
"People in tech hubs like Silicon Valley are looking at other places to live that are cheaper, safer and handled better," Friedman said. "Whether that is a single family seastead or moving to one of the tax-friendly countries and working on building charter cities for founders around the world."
A charter city would be a bit different from a simple seastead community — it would involve teaming up with a host notion that is okay with designating land to be developed. Friedman said he's in contact with floating city developers to potentially build such a charter city at an undisclosed location. This isn't the first time he's broached the concept — he once sketched out designs for a would-be floating settlement in the San Francisco Bay that would be "Burning Man meets Silicon Valley meets the water," according to The Telegraph.The idea inspired BlueSeed, a startup that set out to launch a so-called "Googleplex of the seas" in 2013 as Business Insider reported in 2011. The company sought to skirt US regulations by building vessels on international waters near the Bay Area that would serve as incubators for tech workers who were unable to obtain US work visas. It was backed by Thiel but never panned out.
Friedman is working on building self-governed cities. Others share his goal, like ex-Uber exec Ryan Rzepecki who sold his electric bike company Jump to the ride-sharing giant for $200 million in 2018. Rzepecki specifically is looking to fund a private city to take in the expected influx of fleeing tech workers from Silicon Valley, according to a separate report from The Telegraph.
As Business Insider's Aria Bendix reported in mid-2019, floating cities may be a reality — but less so as floating communes for
Peter Thiel has property there, and the Valley's enthusiasm for the Kiwi nation could be traced back to him.
The Telegraph asked Friedman if Thiel was going to purchase a seastead, to which Friedman replied, "they aren't up to billionaire standards yet."Copyright © 2021. Times Internet Limited. All rights reserved.For reprint rights. Times Syndication Service.
Next