--- title: "The Wealthy Are Weirdly Psyched to Download Their Brains Into Computers" description: "Over 40 percent of America's wealthiest would download their consciousness into a computer as a means to live forever, a recent report says." date: "2023-08-12" modified: "2023-08-12" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/wealthy-pysched-download-brains-computers" categories: - "Brain" - "Computers" - "Computing" - "Health & Medicine" - "Robots and Machines" tags: - "immortality" - "immortality tech" - "longevity" - "the digest" --- # The Wealthy Are Weirdly Psyched to Download Their Brains Into Computers ![Default Futurism featured image]() ## Braindrive Fresh dispatch from the eternal search for the fountain of youth! As [*Fortune* reports](), a recent consumer report, conducted by the strategy group A/B Consulting and the VC firm Maveron, shows that 41 percent of America's wealthiest would happily download their consciousness into a computer as a means to live forever. Looks like Mark Zuckerberg's dusty — and multibillion-dollar — metaverse dreams might just have a [target audience]() after all. ## Just Another Day From their fondness for anti-aging "[biohacking]()" therapies to [rumored head-freezings]() and [vampiric, youth-obsessed blood-swapping](), it's no secret that longevity — and straight-up immortality — are [common pursuits]() among the wealthy. And in their quest to [defeat death](), some of the world's wealthiest are also looking to cash in on the [lucrative]() market; Amazon founder and [cool guy Jeff Bezos](), for example, has a lot of money in [immortality tech efforts](). Brain downloading, however, represents a very particular type of immortality hunting, at least when compared to these more physical means of staying alive for as long as possible. And considering how much of our lives are already spent in the digital world, it could, in theory, be a feasible way for people to [retain their wealth, power, and influence]() in perpetuity — if, of course, human consciousness could ever *actually* be distilled into an algorithm. On that note: per *Fortune*, only 19 percent of the lower-income Americans surveyed reported that they would want a tech firm to download their mind into a computer. ## Designer Babies And apparently, according to the report, the brain downloading thing is hardly even the tip of the iceberg. Per *Fortune*, another 41 percent of America's wealthiest admitted that they would be down to gene edit their future children. Meanwhile, only 20 percent of lower-income folks told surveyors that they would consider the same. So, you know, super normal and definitely non-eugenic things happening over with America's elite. But while brain downloading and gene editing are certainly extreme, the wealthy's apparent willingness to go through with kooky, ethically murky practices and procedures seems to be symptomatic of a larger, wealth-driven divide. "With rising health care costs and wellness increasingly becoming a privilege of the elite," Anarghya Vardhana, general partner at Maveron, told *Fortune*, "our study confirmed the idea wealthier populations are willing to invest in more cutting edge and risky therapies, almost all of them associated with out-of-pocket costs." **More on the wealthy and immortality:** [*Youth-obsessed Tech Mogul Now Swapping Blood with His Teenage Son*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()