Editing Way of the Future (section)

==History==
Anthony Levandowski founded Way of the Future in 2017 in California.<ref name="wired-god">{{cite magazine |last=Metz |first=Cade |title=God Is a Bot, and Anthony Levandowski Is His Messenger |url=https://www.wired.com/story/god-is-a-bot-and-anthony-levandowski-is-his-messenger/ |magazine=Wired |date=November 15, 2017 |access-date=October 10, 2023}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Solon |first=Olivia |date=2017-09-28 |title=Deus ex machina: former Google engineer is developing an AI god |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/sep/28/artificial-intelligence-god-anthony-levandowski |access-date=2025-03-05 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> Levandowski established WOTF as a non-profit religious corporation and the organization had tax-exempt status. He serves as the church leader and its unpaid CEO.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kircher |first=Madison Malone |date=2017-11-15 |title=Anthony Levandowski Thinks His AI Church Worshippers Will Need Their Own Country |url=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2017/11/what-is-levandowskis-ai-way-of-the-future-church-about.html |access-date=2025-03-05 |website=Intelligencer |language=en}}</ref> The primary mission of WOTF was to "develop and promote the realization of a Godhead based on Artificial Intelligence."<ref name=":1" />

WOTF was closed by Levandowski in 2021.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Campbell |first=Ian Carlos |date=2021-02-19 |title=Ex-Google engineer Anthony Levandowski has closed his artificial intelligence church |url=https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/19/22291769/anthony-levandowski-church-closed-artificial-intelligence-waymo-uber |access-date=2025-02-23 |website=The Verge |language=en-US}}</ref> He donated all the funds of the church to the [[NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund|NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund]]. The sum of the funds (~$170,000) had not changed since 2017.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Korosec |first=Kirsten |date=2021-02-18 |title=Anthony Levandowski closes his Church of AI |url=https://techcrunch.com/2021/02/18/anthony-levandowski-closes-his-church-of-ai/ |access-date=2025-03-05 |website=TechCrunch |language=en-US}}</ref>

The church was reopened by Levandowski  in 2023.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Thompson |first=Polly |date=25 November 2023 |title=Former Google engineer and Trump pardonee Anthony Levandowski relaunches his AI church |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/former-google-engineer-pardoned-donald-trump-anthony-levandowski-ai-church-2023-11 |access-date=2025-02-23 |website=Business Insider |language=en-US}}</ref> He claimed that there are "a couple thousand people" who want to make a "spiritual connection" with AI through his church.<ref name=":0" />