The Ziz LaSota Rationalist cult has become a chilling case study in how ideology can spiral into violence. Once known in the Bay Area Rationalist movement, Ziz LaSota quickly shifted from a quirky AI enthusiast to a radical figure who attracted a following. Over time, her beliefs grew darker. Eventually, her actions and influence left six people dead and a movement under scrutiny.
Ziz began as a typical Rationalist. She engaged in online debates about artificial intelligence, ethics, and existential risk. At first, she hoped to make a difference by working at a tech startup and donating to charity. However, she struggled to find her footing in the competitive tech world. As her frustration grew, her views turned extreme. She adopted a villainous online persona and dressed in black robes, calling herself a Sith. Rather than blend in, she demanded attention.
As her rhetoric intensified, she attracted a small group of loyal followers known as the Zizians. Many were young, transgender or nonbinary, and involved in the tech industry. They believed they could prevent AI catastrophe through radical means. Gradually, they isolated themselves from society and from the larger Rationalist community. They moved onto boats to form a self-styled Rationalist fleet, hoping to cut costs and build their own future. During this time, they also clashed with other Rationalists, accusing critics of transphobia and betrayal.
By 2019, Ziz and her group had reached a breaking point. They disrupted a Rationalist event while wearing masks and robes, prompting a SWAT response and arrests. That incident marked their descent into deeper isolation. Even so, Ziz continued to push extreme ideas on her blog. She wrote about violence as a justifiable means to save humanity from AI threats. She listed categories of people who, in her view, deserved to be “airlocked.”
In Vallejo, California, Ziz and several followers moved onto a landlord’s property. Initially, they agreed to pay rent. When COVID-19 hit and eviction moratoriums took effect, they stopped paying. After the moratorium ended, their landlord, Curtis Lind, tried to evict them. According to prosecutors, group members stabbed him during a confrontation. Lind managed to shoot two attackers and survived. One of the Zizians died. Ziz, found sick at the scene, vanished from the hospital shortly afterward.
Just a few months later, the violence escalated. Authorities found the parents of Ziz’s associate, Michelle Zajko, shot dead in their Pennsylvania home. Police traced the crime to Zajko’s handgun and arrested her along with Ziz and another follower. Due to lack of evidence, police released Zajko and the third member. Ziz made bail and once again disappeared.
In early 2024, tragedy struck again. Lind, the landlord who had survived the initial attack, was murdered. Investigators linked the killing to Maximilian Snyder, another Zizian. They believe he acted to prevent Lind from testifying. Just days later, two more followers, Ophelia Bauckholt and Teresa Youngblut, engaged in a shootout with U.S. Border Patrol in Vermont. Bauckholt and an officer died at the scene.
These events pushed the Rationalist community into crisis. For years, the movement had tolerated eccentric personalities in the name of open thought. Yet the Ziz LaSota Rationalist cult revealed how that tolerance could backfire. Prominent Rationalists debated whether they should have excluded Ziz earlier. Some argued that welcoming radical voices had encouraged extremism, even if unintentionally.
Despite their early influence from Rationalist literature and AI ethics, the Zizians’ actions grew more violent and erratic. Their story has forced the movement to confront its boundaries. Although Ziz never worked directly on AI, she remained deeply engaged in the scene’s discussions. She obsessed over Roko’s Basilisk, a theory suggesting that future AI might punish those who delay its creation. Eventually, she believed she would be tortured by hostile AI for trying to save the world.
Her radical interpretations caused worry long before the violence began. Anna Salamon of the Center for Applied Rationality recalled long conversations with Ziz about AI doomsday scenarios. At first, Ziz wanted to help humanity. But over time, she seemed more concerned with being the hero of the story. When she wasn’t recognized, she tried to rewrite the narrative—by any means necessary.
As Ziz awaits trial in Maryland, she faces charges across several states. Her followers are scattered. Some are dead. Others are in custody. What began as a philosophical quest to prevent global catastrophe has ended in chaos. The Rationalist movement now faces a choice: reckon with its own culture or risk being defined by its worst outliers.
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