{
  "id": 2337923,
  "title": "Billionaires are betting millions on beating death",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/21/billionaires-are-betting-millions-on-beating-death",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-08-21T07:49:11.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Economic Times",
    "slug": "the-economic-times",
    "url": "https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/global-trends/why-billionaires-are-betting-millions-on-beating-death/articleshow/133396594.cms"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "For centuries, death had been universally unavoidable. Kings, emperors, and even the wealthiest individuals succumbed to the inevitable. No amount of wealth, land or political power could grant immortality. This unshakeable certainty is now being challenged by a unique coalition of Silicon Valley billionaires, longevity experts and influential political leaders who believe that future technology may eventually succeed where religion, alchemy and medicine have previously failed.\n\nThe proposed solutions span from relatively sensible ideas like living healthier lives to the more ambitious, such as reversing biological aging, replacing damaged organs and achieving near-immortality. Bryan Johnson, a prominent tech entrepreneur, has spent millions annually attempting to make his body younger. Johnson's Blueprint program combines strict nutrition, exercise, supplements and sleep optimization, with the ambitious goal of slowing and eventually reversing biological aging.\n\nOther billionaires are taking a more conventional approach, investing in scientific research with the hope that advancements will eventually make aging more manageable. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has invested $180 million into Retro Biosciences, a biotech company focused on adding healthy years to human life. Jeff Bezos, a major backer of Altos Labs, is supporting research aimed at restoring cell health and resilience to potentially reverse disease, injury and age-related decline.\n\nSilicon Valley billionaires like Peter Thiel have explicitly spoken about mortality, investing in longevity research and promoting cryonic preservation as a means of potentially reviving the frozen body. Elon Musk has expressed optimism that \"semi-immortality,\" or a significant extension of human lifespan, is a solvable problem, suggesting that with the right technological understanding, humans might be able to engineer away death itself.\n\nMeanwhile, India's billionaire Deepinder Goyal, founder of Eternal, is developing a wearable called Temple designed to monitor the body's metabolic state in real-time. Goyal describes the device as a personal biohacking tool for athletes, executives and founders, aiming to provide insights into stress, meditation, recovery, sleep and exercise. However, Temple is still awaiting medical regulatory approval, and the science behind its core biomarker remains unvalidated.",
  "summary": null,
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "The Economic Times",
        "title": "Billionaires are betting millions on beating death",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/21/billionaires-are-betting-millions-on-beating-death-2345136",
        "published": "2026-08-21T07:49:11.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}