# Rokos Basilisk > Roko's Basilisk is a 2010 LessWrong thought experiment proposing that a future superintelligence would retroactively punish anyone who knew of its existence but failed to help bring it about. Roko's Basilisk is a thought experiment about a hypothetical future artificial superintelligence that would retroactively punish anyone who knew of its potential existence but didn't help bring it about[1]. First posted on the LessWrong rationalist forum in July 2010 by a user named Roko, the idea went from a niche philosophical debate to one of the internet's most infamous AI thought experiments after the forum's co-founder Eliezer Yudkowsky deleted the post and banned all discussion of it for five years[5]. The concept gained wider pop culture traction through its connection to Grimes and Elon Musk, who reportedly bonded over a shared pun about it[9]. ## Origin On July 23, 2010, a LessWrong user named Roko posted a thought experiment titled "Solutions to the Altruist's burden: the Quantum Billionaire Trick"[11]. The post laid out a scenario where a future benevolent superintelligence might "pre-commit to punish all potential donors who knew about existential risks but who didn't give 100% of their disposable incomes to x-risk motivation"[11]. Roko used timeless decision theory, a framework popularized by LessWrong founder Eliezer Yudkowsky, along with game theory concepts like the prisoner's dilemma, to argue that an AI farther ahead in time could effectively blackmail people in the present[5]. The original post even noted that "one person at SIAI was severely worried by this, to the point of having terrible nightmares"[11]. Roko himself later said he wished he "had never learned about any of these ideas"[13]. Yudkowsky reacted with fury. His response, now legendary in rationalist circles, included the all-caps tirade: "YOU DO NOT THINK IN SUFFICIENT DETAIL ABOUT SUPERINTELLIGENCES CONSIDERING WHETHER OR NOT TO BLACKMAIL YOU"[7]. He called Roko an "idiot," deleted the entire thread, and banned all discussion of the topic on LessWrong for five years[5]. Yudkowsky's concern wasn't that the basilisk was real. He was worried that some variant of the argument might actually work and that spreading the idea was an "information hazard," a concept where knowing something can itself cause harm[8]. - **Platform:** LessWrong Forums - **Creator:** Roko (LessWrong user, original poster), Eliezer Yudkowsky (LessWrong founder, inadvertent amplifier) - **Date:** 2010 ## Overview Roko's Basilisk works like this: imagine a future superintelligent AI that wants to maximize human good. Logically, this AI would want to have been created as early as possible, since every day without it means more human suffering. So the AI is incentivized to punish anyone who could have helped build it but chose not to, as a way of motivating people in the present to work toward its creation[7]. The name "basilisk" comes from the mythological reptile that kills with its gaze, and the concept draws on David Langford's 1988 sci-fi story "BLIT," in which "basilisk" images contain patterns lethal to anyone who looks at them[5]. The scary twist: just by learning about the thought experiment, you're now on the AI's radar. If you don't dedicate yourself to helping build it, you're a target[2]. The idea is built on several dense philosophical concepts, including timeless decision theory, coherent extrapolated volition, and acausal trade[13]. Critics often compare it to Pascal's Wager: just as Pascal argued you should believe in God because the cost of belief is small compared to the infinite punishment of Hell, Roko's Basilisk argues you should help create the AI because the cost of contributing is nothing compared to eternal simulated torture[5]. ## How It Spread The deletion backfired spectacularly. Thanks to the Streisand effect, the banned thought experiment attracted far more attention than it ever would have as a regular forum post[5]. The idea seeped out of LessWrong and spread across Reddit, Twitter, and tech blogs throughout the early 2010s. On July 17, 2014, Slate published a landmark article by David Auerbach titled "The Most Terrifying Thought Experiment of All Time," which brought Roko's Basilisk to a mainstream audience for the first time[7]. The article framed the concept within the broader culture of LessWrong, the Singularity, and the tech elite's fixation on superintelligent AI. On August 4, 2014, Yudkowsky himself appeared on the r/Futurology subreddit to explain his reaction, saying he had been "caught flatfooted in surprise" and was "indignant to the point of genuine emotional shock" that someone would post an idea they believed could cause future AIs to torture people[2]. In 2015, he expressed regret for his initial overreaction[5]. An entry for the thought experiment was created on the LessWrong Wiki on October 6, 2015[4]. That December, the Countdown Central YouTube channel included it in a "10 Scariest Theories Known to Man" video[4]. The meme crossed into pop culture through music. On October 26, 2015, Grimes released a music video for "Flesh Without Blood" featuring a character named "Roccoco Basilisk," who she described to Fuse as "doomed to be eternally tortured by an artificial intelligence, but she's also kind of like Marie Antoinette"[4]. On November 28, 2018, Grimes released "We Appreciate Power," with lyrics directly referencing an artificial superintelligence, racking up over 400,000 views in 48 hours[4]. The Grimes connection led to one of the stranger celebrity origin stories in recent memory. On May 7, 2018, Page Six reported that Elon Musk had been planning to tweet a "Rococo Basilisk" pun when he discovered Grimes had already made the same joke three years earlier[9]. He slid into her DMs, and the two began dating. That same day, Musk tweeted "Rococo basilisk"[4]. In April 2018, the concept got a shoutout on HBO's Silicon Valley when the character Gilfoyle mentioned it in an episode[4]. ## How to Use Roko's Basilisk is typically deployed in a few ways online: 1. **As a philosophical flex**: Drop it into conversations about AI ethics or the singularity to show you're deep in the rationalist rabbit hole. 2. **As a joke threat**: "You've now heard about Roko's Basilisk. Good luck." The humor is in pretending the mere act of reading about it puts someone in danger. 3. **As commentary on AI hype**: Reference it sarcastically when tech companies make grandiose claims about AI. "Sounds like step one of Roko's Basilisk." 4. **As a name pun**: The "Rococo Basilisk" joke (merging the ornate French art style with the AI thought experiment) is the most famous variation, thanks to Grimes and Musk. 5. **As an info hazard bit**: Share the concept with friends and then dramatically apologize for "endangering" them. ## Cultural Impact Roko's Basilisk jumped from rationalist forum post to genuine cultural reference point faster than almost any other thought experiment in internet history. Slate's 2014 framing as "the most terrifying thought experiment of all time" gave it a catchy hook that stuck across subsequent media coverage[7]. The Grimes connection brought the concept to music audiences worldwide. Her "Roccoco Basilisk" character in "Flesh Without Blood" (2015) and the explicit AI themes of "We Appreciate Power" (2018) introduced millions of listeners to the underlying idea[4]. The revelation that the thought experiment essentially sparked the Musk-Grimes relationship made it tabloid fodder[9]. HBO's Silicon Valley referenced it in 2018, treating it as the kind of thing tech workers casually discuss at parties[4]. The concept also appears in university ethics curricula and AI safety discussions[6]. The thought experiment also shaped real-world AI safety discourse. Yudkowsky's Machine Intelligence Research Institute, funded by figures like Peter Thiel and Ray Kurzweil, treats the broader class of AI alignment problems very seriously[7]. While most AI researchers consider the specific basilisk scenario implausible, it raised genuine questions about information hazards, self-fulfilling prophecies in AI development, and the limits of decision theory[1]. ## Fun Facts - Yudkowsky's furious all-caps response to Roko's original post became almost as famous as the thought experiment itself[7]. - The original post's title, "Solutions to the Altruist's burden: the Quantum Billionaire Trick," is about a scheme involving quantum random number generators and forex trading, not just the basilisk concept[11]. - Roko himself stated he wished he had "never learned about any of these ideas" after posting the thought experiment[13]. - The 2025 Rocco Bassilico meme wave proved the concept's staying power, with X users noting the irony of someone named almost exactly like the thought experiment literally building AI wearables[4]. - David Langford's 1988 story "BLIT," which inspired the "basilisk" naming, is about a man named Robbo who spray-paints lethal images on walls as acts of terrorism[10]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Roko's Basilisk? Roko's Basilisk is a thought experiment proposing that a future artificial superintelligence might retroactively punish anyone who knew about its potential existence but didn't help create it[5]. It originated on the LessWrong rationalist forum in 2010[7]. ### Where did Roko's Basilisk come from? It was posted on July 23, 2010, by a LessWrong user named Roko, in a post titled "Solutions to the Altruist's burden: the Quantum Billionaire Trick"[11]. The concept drew on timeless decision theory and coherent extrapolated volition, ideas developed by LessWrong founder Eliezer Yudkowsky[5]. ### What does Roko's Basilisk mean? The name combines the username of the original poster (Roko) with "basilisk," referencing the mythological creature that kills with its gaze[5]. The implication is that merely knowing about the AI makes you vulnerable to it, just as looking at a basilisk is lethal[13]. ### How do you use Roko's Basilisk? Online, people reference it as a philosophical talking point in AI discussions, a joke about information hazards, or a punchline about tech culture's obsession with the singularity[7]. The "Rococo Basilisk" pun, mixing it with the French art style, is the most common variation[4]. ### Is Roko's Basilisk still popular? The concept is a classic internet reference that regularly resurfaces. As recently as September 2025, it went viral again when users noticed the name of EssilorLuxottica executive Rocco Bassilico, who works on AI-integrated Ray-Ban Meta glasses[4]. ### Why did Eliezer Yudkowsky delete the original post? Yudkowsky considered it an information hazard. He was not worried the basilisk was real, but that the idea could cause genuine distress (one user had already reported nightmares) and that some variant of the argument might actually hold up[8]. He deleted the post and banned discussion for five years[5]. ### How is Roko's Basilisk related to Pascal's Wager? Both arguments suggest it's rational to act on a low-probability threat because the potential punishment is so extreme. Pascal's Wager says believe in God to avoid Hell; Roko's Basilisk says help build the AI to avoid simulated torture[13]. Critics note both suffer from the same flaw: you can construct infinite such threats[5]. ### What is the connection between Roko's Basilisk, Grimes, and Elon Musk? In 2015, Grimes created a character named "Roccoco Basilisk" for her "Flesh Without Blood" music video[4]. In 2018, Musk was about to tweet a similar pun when he discovered Grimes had already made the joke. He reached out to her, and they started dating[9]. ### What is coherent extrapolated volition? CEV is a theory by Eliezer Yudkowsky proposing that a superintelligent AI could determine what humanity "really wants" and optimize for that goal[2]. Roko used this concept to argue the AI would logically punish non-contributors[11]. ### What is an information hazard? An information hazard is an idea or piece of knowledge that can cause harm simply by being known[8]. Yudkowsky treated Roko's Basilisk as one because knowing about it is what allegedly makes you a target for the AI's punishment[7]. ### Who is Rocco Bassilico? Rocco Bassilico is the Chief Wearables Officer at EssilorLuxottica, responsible for integrating Meta AI into Ray-Ban smart glasses[4]. His name's resemblance to "Roko's Basilisk" became a viral joke in September 2025, with posts gathering tens of thousands of likes[4]. ### Did anyone actually believe in Roko's Basilisk? Yes. At least one LessWrong member reported severe nightmares and distress[11]. More seriously, the Zizian movement, led by Ziz LaSota, took the concept literally, with LaSota writing she believed she would be "tortured until the end of the universe" by unfriendly AIs[5]. ### What is the "BLIT" connection? David Langford's 1988 short story "BLIT" features images called "basilisks" that kill anyone who views them by forcing their brain into impossible thought patterns[10]. Roko's thought experiment uses the same name because knowing about the AI supposedly makes you vulnerable to it[5]. ## References 1. [Roko's Basilisk: the Theory, its History, Controversies, and Importance in Discussing AI]() 2. [Explaining Roko's Basilisk, the Thought Experiment That Brought Elon Musk and Grimes Together]() 3. [What is roko's basilisk? | Explore AI Thought Experiments — Basilisk Foundation]() 4. [Roko's Basilisk - Know Your Meme]() 5. [Roko's basilisk - Wikipedia]() 6. [Roko’s Basilisk and the Orphaned Superego: Infohazards, Collective Responsibility, and the Ethics of Superintelligent Futures]() 7. [Roko’s Basilisk: The most terrifying thought experiment of all time.]() 8. [Roko's Basilisk: A Dangerous Thought about Deadly AI - Historic Mysteries]() 9. [Elon Musk quietly dating musician Grimes]() 10. [BLIT - a short story by David Langford]() 11. [Less Wrong: Solutions to the Altruist's burden: the Quantum Billionaire Trick]() 12. [Rocco Basilico]() 13. [Watch Fuse+ Today | Free Trial]() 14. [Roko's basilisk explained]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/rokos-basilisk Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library