The Zizians: Extreme Brain-Hackers Who Formed a Deadly Cult
How AI Safety Advocates Lost Their Way in the Quest to "Save Humanity"
Chinese Version: 公众号 策看世界
Table of Content:
What are the Zizians?
Bloody Timeline of Events
The Original Intent of the Zizians
How the Zizians Deviated from Mainstream to a Crime Cult
Lessons from the Zizian Incident
I. What are the Zizians?
If you haven't heard of the Zizians, they are a small fringe group of highly educated computer experts in their 20s and 30s who have shocked the World with their alleged involvement in multiple violent incidents in recent years.
The group has been linked to four murders, two violent deaths, several suicides, and several staged deaths. Their operational style has been described as "cult-like" by outsiders.
Currently, the law enforcement is conducting an in-depth investigation into six deaths connected to the Zizians.
The leader of the Zizians, Jack LaSota (alias Ziz, a transgender individual), is a controversial computer expert, she had a background in computer science, having earned a degree from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and completed an internship at NASA.
Their followers are primarily tech gurus who believe in anarchism, extreme veganism, and harbor strong concerns about the potential risks of AI.
Their story is not just a record of criminal cases but a complex narrative about the collision between rationality and extremism, ideals and reality.
II. Bloody Timeline of Events:
November 2022: Curtis Lind's Fight for Survival
The first incident took place in Vallejo, California.
Curtis Lind, an 80-year-old landlord, became involved in a conflict with Zizian members over rent disputes.
In November 2022, Emma Borhanian led several members in an attack on Lind, stabbing him in the chest and striking his head, causing him to lose sight in his right eye. In a life-or-death situation, Lind fired in self-defense, killing Emma. The court ruled it as self-defense, but the incident revealed only the tip of the iceberg regarding the Zizians' violent tendencies.
My Question: Was the attack merely due to economic disputes, or did it involve deeper ideological conflicts? Limited information is available, pending further investigation.
December 2022: Double Homicide in Pennsylvania
A month later, a more shocking event occurred in Pennsylvania.
Richard Zajko and Rita Zajko were found murdered in their home. Their daughter Michelle Zajko, a Zizian member, was listed as a suspect. However, Michelle disappeared after police questioning.
My Question: Was this a family dispute or a collective action by the Zizians? Case details remain mysterious.
January 17, 2025: Lind's Second Tragedy
Fate was cruel. Lind, who survived the 2022 attack, could not escape misfortune.
On January 17, 2025, he was fatally stabbed with a Samurai Sword outside his property.
Maximilian Snyder was charged with murder, with prosecutors citing his motive as preventing Lind from testifying in Emma's case. This incident pushed the Zizians' violent behavior to a new level.
January 2025: Border Shootout
That same month, U.S. Border Patrol Agent David Maland engaged in a deadly shootout with Zizian members Teresa Youngblut and Ophelia Bauckholt near the Canadian border in Vermont.
In the end, both David and Ophelia lost their lives, while Teresa was arrested.
This incident further damaged the Zizians' reputation.
February 2025: Leader's Arrest
On February 18, 2025, LaSota (Ziz) and two other members were arrested in Maryland on charges including unlawful entry and obstruction of justice. The court ordered detention without bail. This marked the first time core Zizian members fell into law enforcement's hands, though the truth behind the cases remains partially hidden.
III. The Original Intent of the Zizians
From AI Safety to Idealistic Beginnings
The birth of the Zizians was no coincidence. It was rooted in a unique Silicon Valley subculture - the intersection of rationalism, effective altruism (EA), and AI safety research.
These communities gathered intelligent tech elites who believed that through logical reasoning and data analysis, they could solve major human problems, particularly the "control risk" that AI might pose.
For example, they worried that if AI developed intelligence surpassing humans, it might destroy humanity due to goal misalignment - like the extreme case of an ultimate AGI focused solely on making paperclips converting Earth into paperclip material.
Leadership and Vision
Jack LaSota (Ziz) was a product of this intellectual current. She published over 100,000 words of blog posts covering engineering, psychology, gender theory, and AI ethics. She proposed that humans must "optimize thinking" to address AI threats, an optimization not limited to technical aspects but including reforming human cognitive patterns.
Zizian members, mostly graduates from prestigious universities, identified with this vision, believing they carried the mission of "saving humanity."
Social Vision Beyond Technology
Expanding Ideology - The Zizians' ideology expanded beyond AI safety to incorporate radical veganism, anarchism, and unconventional theories about human consciousness. They believed in reforming human cognitive patterns and constructing a more "rational" and "moral" social order.
Ziz developed extreme ideas, including a theory that the two hemispheres of the brain could possess different genders and conflicting interests.
In the novel Blindsight by Peter Watts, the protagonist Siri Keeton undergoes a hemispherectomy to treat epilepsy, resulting in the loss of normal human emotions. However, this also enables him to observe and analyze things more effectively. Goodreads rating: 4.0. Growing Following - Their beliefs attracted marginalized young people, especially talented individuals who felt overlooked in the tech industry. The Zizians rejected mainstream society's norms and adopted militant veganism as a kind of litmus test for loyalty.
My Question: The Zizians' original intent likely included dual motives: AI risk prevention at the technical level and radical reform at the social level. This hybrid nature gave them both academic foundation and a utopian tinge.
IV. How the Zizians Deviated from Mainstream to a Crime Cult
The Turn from Rationality to Extremism
The Zizians' split from mainstream rationalism didn't happen overnight. Initially, they were part of Silicon Valley's rationalist community, advocating data and science-based decision-making methods, participating in discussions on forums like LessWrong.
Dangerous Experiments
However, their practices gradually deviated from convention. For example, Ziz promoted "cognitive hacks" - extreme methods to modify the brain for "optimized thinking" to address AI threats, such as keeping half the brain awake while the other half sleeps to bypass human "animality" (irrational parts). These experiments were highly dangerous, lacking scientific basis and violating current ethical standards.
Descent into Violence
Over time, the Zizians' ideology spiraled out of control. They distorted utilitarian principles, justifying violence with the belief that "sacrificing the few to save the many" was acceptable. Zizian members applied this principle to reality, eventually resorting to violence.
Evolution of Violent Incidents
The Zizians' violent acts showed clear escalation:
November 2022: First public violent incident - Emma Borhanian attacked landlord Lind over rent disputes, ultimately killed in self-defense
December 2022: Michelle Zajko suspected of killing her parents, possibly related to family conflicts and Zizian beliefs
January 2025: Maximilian Snyder assassinated Lind, allegedly to prevent his testimony
Deep Reasons for Deviation
Why did the Zizians slide from rationalism into crime? On one hand, there was external pressure: social rejection, economic hardship (such as the rental crisis during the pandemic), and alienation from mainstream communities - these factors drove them toward isolation and radicalization. On the other hand, their leader Ziz was described as a "highly manipulative leader" who incited members through extreme ideologies and special rituals:
The "Doom Circles" - Ziz designed a ritual called "Doom Circles." In this ritual, members would take turns sitting in the center to receive criticism. This group activity claimed to "purify" thinking and enhance their ability to deal with AI risks through harsh criticism and feedback. Participants had to confess their deepest fears and flaws, such as anxiety about "being unable to save the world," and then endure merciless "rational" criticism from other members. This practice, bordering on psychological abuse, fully demonstrates the organization's distorted understanding of "rationality."
V. Lessons from the Zizian Incident
AI is a Double-Edged Sword
The Zizians' concerns about AI safety weren't unfounded. Globally, AI is developing at unprecedented speed, from medical diagnosis to autonomous driving, with exciting potential. However, the Zizians' extremism reminds us that tech worship can go to two extremes: blind optimism ignoring risks, or excessive fear leading to radical opposition.
[Lesson] We need to find a balance between optimism and fear regarding AI technology, preventing idealism from morphing into destructive force.
Human Fragility in the Tech Era
Despite their high intelligence, Zizian members turned to violence due to isolation and pressure. This reflects human fragility stemming from the combination of rationality and animality, particularly psychological struggles facing uncertainty in the technological age.
[Lesson] The tech era needs to address individual mental health, preventing knowledge elites from becoming extremist due to psychological issues.
Right Brain Value in the AI Age
The Zizians slid from rationality to violence by overly pursuing left-brain rationality (like "half-brain sleep") while neglecting right-brain emotion and intuition. In the AI era, as AI efficiently handles left-brain logical and linguistic tasks, human value should focus more on right-brain creativity, intuition, and empathy to maintain uniqueness and balance in a technology-dominated world.
Recognising Group Radicalization
The Zizians' shift from academic discussion to crime reveals common paths of group radicalization: ideological divergence, social exclusion, leadership manipulation, and external pressure. This pattern isn't unique to the AI era; various radical organizations globally or religious extremist groups show similar trajectories.
[Lesson] Society needs to vigilantly watch for marginalized group radicalization, identifying and intervening timely rather than brute force suppression.
References
Al Jazeera. (2025, February 18). Judge orders leaders of cult-like Zizian group to be held without bail. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/2/18/judge-orders-leaders-of-cult-like-zizian-group-to-be-held-without-bail
BBC. (2025, February 20). Zizians: What we know about the 'cult' linked to six deaths
Los Angeles Times. (2025, February 23). Vegan computer savant 'Zizians' linked to deaths across U.S.
The Associated Press. (2025, February 18). Leader of cultlike Zizians linked to 6 killings ordered held without bail.
The Guardian. (2025, March 5). They wanted to save us from a dark AI future.
The New York Times. (2025, February 22). Investigations into 6 killings look to a fringe group known as the Zizians.
WIRED. (2025, February 21). The delirious, violent, impossible true story of the Zizians.
Wikipedia. (2025, March 7). Zizians. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zizians