Zoltan Istvan

In 2020, Istvan announced his candidacy to become the Libertarian Party 2020 nominee for Vice President of the United States. The Libertarian Party chooses their vice presidential nominee independent of their presidential nominee.

In November 2019, Istvan announced his candidacy for the Republican Party's nomination in the 2020 United States presidential election, hoping to win the Republican Party's nomination against President Donald Trump.

Istvan is the creator of the concepts of Theistcideism, Omnipotism, the AI Imperative, the Singularity Disparity, Speciation Syndrome, Delayed Fertility Advantage, and Jethro's Window, a possible solution to the Fermi Paradox. Istvan is also a populizer of AI Day, the Jesus Singularity, cryothanasia and a robot AI President. Istvan proposed and developed the concept of a Longevity Peace Prize at the XPRIZE Foundation in 2019. Writing for The New York Times opinion section, Istvan argued conservatives should consider supporting artificial wombs to move the abortion debate forward.

In 2017, Istvan announced his intent to run for Governor of California in the 2018 election as a member of the Libertarian Party.

In December 2017, Istvan announced he was considering running for the Libertarian Party's Presidential nomination. In March 2019 during an interview on the Bread and Circuses podcast, Istvan told Caleb Salvatore and Nick Koehler that he was again considering a run for President. Istvan announced a run for the Republican nomination on November 19th.

Istvan authored an article entitled "Transhumanism and Theistcideism" for publication in Pandeism: An Anthology (2017). Istvan wrote the short fictional story "The Jesus Singularity" on a religious AI that goes rogue and destroys the world. It was published in Vice magazine.

He appeared in the 2016 documentary The Future of Work and Death.

In February 2016, it was reported that Istvan was likely to vote Democrat, placing himself "somewhere between Bernie and Hillary in terms of political ideologies", but later in 2016 he also wrote articles supporting Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson. On October 15, 2016, Istvan stated on his social media accounts that he would be voting for himself.

In March 2015, Istvan reported progress in organizing a campaign and explained his wish to get major candidates to address issues. He hoped to be included in some debates, at least with third parties. He himself had funded nearly all of his campaign's expenses to date and he noted donations were needed.

Istvan helped to publicize his campaign in late 2015 by driving a bus shaped like a casket—the "Immortality Bus"—across the United States. Istvan planned the bus tour to raise awareness of life extension. At the end of the Immortality Bus tour, Istvan delivered a "Transhumanist Bill of Rights" to the U.S. Capitol. His 20-point platform includes a universal basic income, increased funding for space travel and taking money from the military and putting it into science and medicine.

In February 2015, he helped launch BiZoHa, the world's first free-thinker orphanage, in Mukhoya, Kasese district, western Uganda. Istvan's promotional article on the topic in Vice's Motherboard, helped a GoFundMe campaign to achieve success in raising $5,820 to provide funding for the orphanage.

In late 2014, Istvan announced his intent to run for President of the United States in the 2016 election. He ran for his own Transhumanist Party to raise awareness for transhumanist politics issues.

In October 2014, Istvan announced that he was "in the very early stages of preparing a campaign to try to run" for U.S. President in 2016. He stated that his goals would be to support scientists in "overcoming human death and aging within 15–20 years" to encourage Americans to embrace "radical technology and science" and to set up safeguards against dangers including potential abuse of such technology.

In October and November 2014 interviews, Istvan explained that he aimed to unify the transhumanist community, which otherwise was splintered, and to establish a single voice. He said great changes in society could happen and that Transhumanism could provide ideas, safeguards and policies. He said the aim for a Transhumanist Party would be to get onto as many state ballots as possible.

TEF is predicated on logic, a simple wager that every human faces: If a reasoning human being loves and values life, they will want to live as long as possible—the desire to be immortal. Nevertheless, it's impossible to know if they're going to be immortal once they die. To do nothing doesn't help the odds of attaining immortality—since it seems evident that everyone will die someday and possibly cease to exist. To try to do something scientifically constructive towards ensuring immortality beforehand is the most logical conclusion.

Zoltan Istvan Gyurko, professionally known as Zoltan Istvan (born March 30, 1973), is an American transhumanist, journalist, entrepreneur and futurist.

Zoltan Istvan was born in Los Angeles in 1973 to his Hungarian immigrant parents Ilona and Steven (István) Gyurko. He was a nationally ranked swimmer and waterpolo player in his youth. Istvan later graduated from Columbia University in New York City with a degree in philosophy and religion. During his freshman year, Istvan was arrested by undercover cops for selling $80 worth of marijuana to fellow students. His arrest and subsequent felony conviction influenced how he views the U.S. government's war on drugs.

Istvan states that in the 21st century, as modern man confronts the finitude of life, everyone faces a Transhumanist Wager, a concept that is explored in his science fiction novel of the same name. The Transhumanist Wager follows from a life philosophy Istvan calls Teleological Egocentric Functionalism (TEF). Istvan summarizes the Transhumanist Wager as follows: