World Renowned Futurist and AI Expert Zoltan Istvan Announces He's Running for California Governor as a Democrat

Zoltan says AI is the greatest existential & economic threat ever faced. He aims to give every Californian a Basic Income and every household a humanoid robot.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, UNITED STATES, April 29, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Today, Zoltan Istvan officially announced he’s running for California Governor for the Democratic Party. Elections are in 2026.

Zoltan is one of the world’s most accomplished futurists, as well as a renowned extreme adventurer & former National Geographic journalist. A successful entrepreneur, familyman, & Oxford graduate whom The New York Times wrote has a “presidential aura”, Zoltan has long lived in California where he was born.

On his campaign website, Zoltan says the central reason he’s running is because he “knows a dark truth, which no other politician will face.” It's the specter of AI. Zoltan believes AI will cause calamitous change in society in just a few years’ time.

California has plenty of big problems like increasing crime, excessive bureaucracy, inflation, inequality, lawfare, homelessness, wildfires, & lack of affordable housing that need fixing--and Zoltan & his team have great ways to fix them, according to the Issues page of his campaign website. But none of these problems are as critical as the one coming. Zoltan believes, by late this year, AI will surpass the intelligence of humans. During 2026, tens of millions of humanoid robots will be mass produced that are both smarter & more agile than people. By 2027, they will start dominating the workplace, & by the end of the next California Governor's term in 2030, they will replace half of California workers. Soon after, they will replace almost all jobs anywhere, destroying the fabric of society. Yet no politician seems to have a plan on how to stop this imminent financial & humanitarian catastrophe.

Zoltan Istvan, a world expert on AI and its implications, does have a detailed plan. He wants to harness the robot revolution to benefit ordinary citizens. He's been working on this plan for 20 years, advising Presidents, world leaders, & speaking about it at places like the World Bank & World Economic Forum.

As Governor, Zoltan's plans to enact laws to make everyday people the main beneficiaries of the AI age. He also plans to freely give or lease a humanoid robot to every California household during his four years in office, which will help with chores, safety, childcare, cooking, and work—ultimately leading to a dramatically more leisurely lifestyle for Californians.

One of his other fundamental goals is to establish a Universal Basic Income in California. On his campaign website, it reads, “Long before Andrew Yang brought Basic Income to prime time, Zoltan was touring the country telling Americans they must embrace a Basic Income because of AI.”

In the Meet Zoltan section of his campaign website, it reads:

“From formally speaking at various country’s Parliaments & Senates to appearing on the Joe Rogan podcast to consulting for the US Armed Forces to being a correspondent for The New York Times, Zoltan Istvan has created a plethora of ideas and policies that have transformed the way millions of people look at the future and humanity. For years he has been a leading voice in AI, politics, basic income, liberty, and ways to use technology to improve society. His futurist work has influenced world leaders and received hundreds of millions of views and numerous awards.”

“Born in Los Angeles, Zoltan's career began at National Geographic as a journalist. While slowly sailing around the world on his 28-foot sailboat, he wrote dozens of stories for them on topics like Paraguay's shamans, Cambodia's Killing Fields, and pirates in Indonesia. He also invented the extreme sport of Volcano Boarding in Vanuatu, a sport which debuted on the National Geographic Channel and is now done all over the world.”

“Today, Zoltan has long lived in the San Francisco Bay Area, where as a self-made entrepreneur he runs real estate projects, media enterprises, and vineyards in Mendoza, Argentina, Bordeaux, France, and Napa Valley, California. He's married to a career nonprofit physician, and they have two young daughters in public school. A national champion water polo player in his youth, Zoltan has undergraduate and graduate degrees in Philosophy and Ethics from Columbia University and the University of Oxford.”

For more information on his California Governor campaign, please go to his campaign website: www.zoltanistvan2026.com. You can also email him personally at info@zoltanistvan.com

Zoltan Istvan
Zoltan Istvan for California Governor 2026
415-802-4891
info@zoltanistvan.com
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