A $3.5 Million Bet on a Brighter Tomorrow: XPrize Founder Challenges Filmmakers to Rewrite Our Future

Peter Diamandis, the entrepreneur behind the XPrize, is tired of dystopian nightmares. Inspired by the hopeful universe of 'Star Trek' he watched as a child, he’s putting up $3.5 million to fund a different vision. His newly launched Future Vision XPrize is a direct challenge to the industry’s gloom, urging creators to imagine a future where technology elevates humanity.

'Every science fiction movie I was seeing painted this dystopian vision,' Diamandis told TechCrunch, citing series like 'Black Mirror.' 'Why would you ever want to live in that future?' He argues that pervasive anxiety about jobs and rapid technological change is fueled by these negative stories. To counter this, he rallied sponsors including Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, investor Cathie Wood, and 'Star Trek' heir Rod Roddenberry.

The contest, run with Google and Range Media Partners' 100 ZEROS initiative, asks entrants to submit a three-minute trailer by August 15. While Diamandis encourages using AI tools like Google’s Veo, he warns that fully AI-generated 'slop' won’t win. 'The humanity of it all is really important,' he said. Finalists will produce a 10-minute short, with a grand prize winner receiving $2.5 million for feature film development and a $100,000 cash prize. The project will also seek further funding on Republic Film.

Diamandis, a longevity tech investor, points to current AI democratizing powerful tools as proof that a positive future is being built now. He wants to see that narrative on screen. 'It motivated me to want to go and create and manifest that future,' he said of 'Star Trek.' His goal is to replace dread with what he calls an 'exponential mindset'—a sense that the future is happening for us, not to us.