My name is Kai Micah Mills. I’m the founder of Cryopets. We’re working on whole-body cryopreservation for pets, with the hope of eventually scaling this technology to humans and integrating it into human hospitals one day. But the long-term goal, and the reason Cryopets exists, is to defeat death.
Why should organizations become Vitalist?
Vitalism is a necessary movement. The word “longevity” has really lost its way. It’s such a broad industry that you get everything from basic health tips, nutrition, and diet, to more radical areas like the work we’re doing. Having a namespace like Vitalism, which is centered around the idea of overcoming aging and death entirely, was essential. I think it’s important for organizations that align with this mission—there aren’t that many—to work together. One of the most powerful things that can happen in this space, in the mission to defeat death, is for professional organizations, companies, non-profits, or whatever they may be, to display a strong narrative and also achieve success. This is very difficult to accomplish because it’s not currently within the Overton window, making it a hard sell. But coming together under this namespace is important, though only for companies that truly fit within Vitalism.
Do you think we are on track to solve aging in your lifetime, given current resourcing?
My answer is a resounding no. Absolutely not. I don’t think we’re anywhere close. We can’t even define aging, let alone begin to treat it. I completely disagree with the direction the industry is moving toward in trying to define aging. So, I would say there’s an incredibly low chance that we could solve it in our lifetimes. But of course, that’s why I work on cryonics.
What are the key achievements and future plans of Cryopets?
We really kicked things off in 2023, joined the Thiel Fellowship, and got backing from Peter Thiel. We’ve amassed a waitlist of almost a thousand pets from around the world, mostly from the U.S., but also from many other countries. We have all kinds of pets on our list—mostly cats and dogs, but pretty much any animal you can think of is probably on our waitlist. We’ve built a lab from the ground up to innovate on what’s been done in whole-body cryopreservation and to start offering this service to people across the country. In the next five years, I’d love for someone to be able to go to their local animal hospital or veterinary clinic and opt-in for cryopreservation for their pet when needed. And ten years from now, I’d love for us to be able to do the same for humans and start integrating this into human hospitals.
If you had unlimited resources, what dream project would you embark on?
The project that originally got me into all of this was the 2045 Initiative. There was something really powerful about it. They were explicitly anti-death, very open about using the word “immortality,” and didn’t hold back. They managed to gather hundreds of thousands of followers and sign-ups on their website, where they asked, “Who wants to be immortal?” and people responded. These days, initiatives like the Dublin Declaration don’t get nearly as much support, even though they try to cater more to what’s perceived as a more acceptable narrative. If I had unlimited resources, I would launch my own version of the 2045 Initiative, starting with a more achievable target goal—perhaps something like whole-body replacement—and keep it more on the biological side, rather than focusing on making robots or uploading minds. I would build a massive organization not just to fund but to incubate and build these radical life extension projects from the ground up.
How long do you want to live?
Kai Micah Mills: Forever. And not a day less.
