> Praxis, a technology-focused community backed by Apollo Projects, a fund associated with Sam Altman, has selected Uruguay for its physical development. The project involves a projected investment of $1 billion in the Colonia development near Colonia del Sacramento. The first residents are expected in mid 2027 while construction of the larger community continues over the following years. Plans include private residences, a resort and spaces for art, music and other cultural activities. Praxis presents the project as an experiment in how communities could live and organize in a future shaped by AI.
> Mr. Brown’s plan is part of a broader drive among Silicon Valley entrepreneurs to build tech-friendly havens run like for-profit corporations. The movement is inspired by the concept of a “network state,” first popularized by Balaji Srinivasan, the former chief technology officer of the crypto exchange Coinbase.
> In Mr. Srinivasan’s vision, online communities bound by shared values eventually crowd-fund physical territory, form mini nations with their own laws and secure diplomatic recognition from existing states.
> Critics describe attempts to build such a state as elitist efforts by tech moguls to secede from society or unfeasible pipe dreams. But supporters — including high-profile venture capitalists like Marc Andreessen and Mr. Thiel — say they could be essential laboratories for governance that could help cut through bureaucratic red tape to accelerate technological innovation.
> Praxis, a technology-focused community backed by Apollo Projects, a fund associated with Sam Altman, has selected Uruguay for its physical development. The project involves a projected investment of $1 billion in the Colonia development near Colonia del Sacramento. The first residents are expected in mid 2027 while construction of the larger community continues over the following years. Plans include private residences, a resort and spaces for art, music and other cultural activities. Praxis presents the project as an experiment in how communities could live and organize in a future shaped by AI.
It's the same home-steading guys...
More, from NYT: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/22/world/americas/praxis-uru...
Archive: https://archive.is/20260924060037/https://www.nytimes.com/20...
> Mr. Brown’s plan is part of a broader drive among Silicon Valley entrepreneurs to build tech-friendly havens run like for-profit corporations. The movement is inspired by the concept of a “network state,” first popularized by Balaji Srinivasan, the former chief technology officer of the crypto exchange Coinbase.
> In Mr. Srinivasan’s vision, online communities bound by shared values eventually crowd-fund physical territory, form mini nations with their own laws and secure diplomatic recognition from existing states.
> Critics describe attempts to build such a state as elitist efforts by tech moguls to secede from society or unfeasible pipe dreams. But supporters — including high-profile venture capitalists like Marc Andreessen and Mr. Thiel — say they could be essential laboratories for governance that could help cut through bureaucratic red tape to accelerate technological innovation.
> say they could be essential laboratories for governance that could help cut through bureaucratic red tape to accelerate technological innovation.
I'm taking an educated guess that rights and managing negative externalities is the "bureaucratic red tape" they are concerned about.