In the same way that genome sequencing determines the genetic makeup of an organism, Bryan Johnson — the investor and founder behind the Don’t Die movement — wants to start “foodome” sequencing. 

“We’re going to sequence the U.S. ‘foodome,’ which means test 20% of foods that constitute 80% of the American diet based on stuff we eat everyday,” Johnson said Thursday at the SXSW festival in Austin. 

Johnson is the founder and former CEO of Kernel, a brain monitoring device company, the founder of OS Fund, and the founder and former CEO of e-commerce company Braintree. 

Today, he’s obsessed with finding ways to extend his lifespan and preaching that gospel to others. He has taken extreme measures, including transfusing his blood with that of his 17-year-old son and undergoing shock therapy treatment to get more nighttime erections, which he says directly correlates to health. 

Most of his tips about life-extending habits are easy enough to guess: Get better sleep. Spend time with community. Exercise. Eat healthy. But Johnson says it’s not as easy to eat healthy as you think.

“I want to be real with you. It’s just very, very hard to buy clean food,” he said, noting that most foods from grocery stores, even the organic brands, could have toxins from various processing methods.

His goal is to test as much food as possible and create a public database where people can donate money to have certain foods and brands tested for toxins such as heavy metals or microplastics. The results, he hopes, will hold brands accountable for unsafe food practices. 

The idea received a round of applause from the packed audience at SXSW, who eagerly participated in Johnson’s various breathing exercises, prompts to move around, and a longevity experiment that involved balancing on one foot with eyes closed. (I made it to 30 seconds — no big deal.)

Johnson has faced a lot of hate online for his eccentric philosophy that with the advent of AI, we may be the first generation that doesn’t have to die.

“We are giving birth to super intelligence. It’s the biggest thing happening in the entire world now,” Johnson said, adding that no existing ideology explains how to handle AI and that the survival of our species is no longer guaranteed now that AI has entered the picture. 

“The human race would be wise to repurpose its objectives [around AI and] away from money at any cost to ‘Don’t Die.’”

In other words, while we debate AI alignment with the human race, why not align AI with the mission of preserving human life? Why not, he asks, use AI to tap into millions of “human-level geniuses” to track human progress and tackle aging’s biggest challenges?

It’s a provocative question and one that has drawn criticism from skeptics who argue that dying is an essential part of being human. 

Dr. Andrew Steele, a longevity scientist, acknowledges that eating well and exercising helps extend life, but that genetics — not extreme measures — plays a larger role in determining life expectancy.

But that perspective hasn’t deterred Johnson from promoting his “Blueprint Protocol,” his lifestyle formula for maintaining what he says are the world’s best biomarkers. He’s also marketing his own line of supplements and foods. His brand of olive oil is ironically — or aptly — named Snake Oil.