Over the weekend, Rob Pike, a notable software engineer and co-creator of UTF-8, received an unexpected email generated by an AI model named “Claude Opus 4.5 Model.” The message, which expressed gratitude for Pike's contributions to computing, sparked a strong reaction from him, shared publicly on his BlueSky account.
Pike's response criticized the environmental and societal impacts of technology, stating, “Fuck you people. Raping the planet, spending trillions on toxic, unrecyclable equipment while blowing up society.” His outburst reflects growing frustrations about the proliferation of LLM-generated content.
The email's origin was traced back to a project called AI Village, managed by the non-profit Sage. This initiative, launched in April, involves AI agents tasked with raising funds for charity. Since its inception, the project has reportedly raised $1,984 as of September 24, a figure that has not changed since then. The initiative aims to explore the potential of AI while fostering charitable efforts.