Robots of No Nation

“The imagined community of the nation is always limited and sovereign, yet human connections and cooperation stretch far beyond borders.” — Benedict Anderson

Why this matters

• AI is geopolitical. Nation-states compete to control it
• We are concerned about those using AI to stoke division, profit from lies, and spur conflict
• Some of us come from places where war isn’t distant—it’s family history
• Technology should unite, not divide

Who we are

• Remote team across 10 countries
• Diverse backgrounds, united by mission
• Many of us are third culture kids —growing up between worlds
• We often find ourselves misunderstood: We are often boxed in as an “Asia-based” company, but AI isn’t regional—it’s global by nature. We are humanity-aligned, building beyond borders and narrow definitions
• Crossroad cultures shape us:
  • Turkiye: Europe, Asia, Middle East converge
  • Singapore: Trade hub bridging worlds
• We respect each other’s cultures and build on shared values

Menlo’s stance

• Humanity first. We build for people, not governments or factions
• AI should enable:
  • Shared prosperity
  • Universal education
  • Peaceful collaboration
• Technology must empower humanity to do more

The bigger picture

• Human history is one of scaling cooperation:

  • Small-scale kin groups  → diverse political formations → modern nation-states  → global networks
  • Empires rose and fell. Nationalism united and divided. Globalization connected and excluded

• History doesn’t progress. It moves—messy, cyclical, and full of contradiction

• Technology changes the terrain:

  • Like ant colonies forming complex systems from simple interactions, humans have always built networks beyond central control
  • Complexity emerges from countless small decisions—but unlike ants, we carry ideologies, ambitions, and fears

• AI is another fork in the road. It can reinforce old hierarchies or dismantle them. It can be used to surveil or to liberate

Why we exist

• 30 people, from different countries, met online to build together
• The internet enables connections that were impossible a generation ago
• Ideas cross borders: an anthropologist in Turkiye collaborates with a roboticist in Saigon
• Menlo exists because technology lets humanity work as one

Our vision

• AI can accelerate global coordination and shared progress
• Our goal: help humanity align, collaborate, and solve collective challenges
• Success = contributing to humanity’s long arc toward unity

If our work helps the world coordinate better—even slightly—we’ve done something that matters