The Leader of the Zizian Cult Is a Failed Computer Scientist Who Turned to Veganism and Anarchy

With the rapid rise of AI, it's easy to forget that some people have been worshipping technology for decades. Take a look at Steve Jobs, for example, who would roll out new Apple products with all the pomp and circumstance of a full-blown concert. That sort of pageantry resulted in Apple acolytes queuing up for the latest iPhone, regardless of whether or not they needed a new device.

Elon Musk has a similar fanbase, which has grown in size and adoration since he bought X (formerly Twitter) and aligned himself with President Donald Trump. His followers are equally as obsessed with Teslas and rockets as the controversial leader of DOGE is. We do indeed live in strange times, as noted by the fact that a tech cult is now being connected to several murders. What is the Zizian cult? Here's what we know.

According to The Independent, the Zizian cult is a "small group of ideologically radical young people — most of whom are trans or non-binary — who appear to follow a left-wing anarchist offshoot of rationalist philosophy." A rationalist believes we are all born with some innate knowledge that drives us, which is not found in experiences or via our own senses. It emphasizes intellectual reasoning, which is why many rationalists worship at the altar of technology.

The so-called leader of the Zizian cult is a trans woman who goes by the name Ziz. Per court documents, their legal name is Jack Amadeus LaSota, but they began going by Ziz in 2016 while attempting to work in Silicon Valley. Ziz moved to the San Francisco Bay area after getting a degree in computer science from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, where their father is an AI researcher.

They were already a self-described rationalist who believed AI could destroy all of humanity if it wasn't properly regulated. Ziz quickly met like-minded rationalists, one of whom was another trans woman named Gwen Danielson. Ziz and Danielson wanted to start a community for other rationalists and planned to fix up old boats. While these plans were being made, Ziz was sharing their philosophies on her own blog. They called people zombies or vampires and eventually landed on anarchy and veganism.

Danielson and Ziz both developed psychology theories that involved multiple version of one's self. According to Danielson, we all contain several personalities that need to be awakened by way of a certain set of techniques. Ziz was pushing the concept of unihemispheric sleep, which involves one hemisphere of your brain being awake while the other sleeps. Before long, they had collected two more followers.

In 2019, the four Zizians protested at the annual alumni retreat of the Center for Applied Rationality (CFAR), and were subsequently arrested. The blocked the exits where the retreat was being held, and were charged with felony false imprisonment and child endangerment because there were kids inside.

The Zizians decided to abandon their boat life for moving vans and ended up moving into RVs on a piece of land in Vallejo, Calif. owned by a fellow boater named Curtis Lind. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, California temporarily banned evictions which kept the Zizians on Lind's property until November 2022 when one of the Zizians attacked Lind with a samurai sword. Lind was carrying a gun and fired in self-defense. Lind was wounded and one of the Zizians was killed.

Two of the Zizian members are awaiting trial but in January 2025, Lind was killed outside of his home. A 22-year-old data scientist and Oxford graduate Maximilian Snyder, who goes by Audere, was arrested. Apparently, they were familiar with Ziz's writings. A few days later, a border patrol agent and a member of the Zizian cult were killed during a shootout instigated by the cult followers.

Finally in February 2025, Ziz and two members were arrested in Maryland for trespassing, obstruction, and possession of a firearm, per The Independent. They did not have outstanding warrants. These arrests were made in relation to "on-site activity," though they are allegedly connected to the murders of a Pennsylvania couple whose child was a member of the cult and was part of the arrest.