With steroids, sprinting, and billionaires, The Enhanced Games is betting human enhancement will become a necessity in the face of AI and population collapse
The Enhanced Games: Where World Records Meet Human Upgrades
Launching in May 2026, The Enhanced Games promises Olympic-level competition with no bans on performance-enhancing drugs. Athletes like Fred Kerley and Kristian Gkolomeev will compete for $1 million bounties in what may sound like a techno-dystopian spectacle — but co-founder Aron D’Souza insists it’s much more.
- The Games are a marketing engine for a direct-to-consumer telehealth platform, selling human enhancement protocols.
- Think: testosterone, growth hormone, or next-gen regenerative treatments, backed by the visible success of world-class, chemically enhanced athletes.
“We use sports marketing to sell a human enhancement product,” D’Souza told Equity. “It’s like Hims or Roman, except we’ll have proof that our athletes are the fastest and strongest.”
Red Bull Playbook, Longevity Industry Stakes
D’Souza’s model mirrors Red Bull’s extreme sports marketing — but instead of promoting energy drinks, The Enhanced Games promotes biological optimization.
- The aim is to grow a high-margin telehealth business off the back of elite spectacle.
- With Peter Thiel and Donald Trump Jr. backing the venture, the company has raised “double-digit millions” and poached talent from the U.S. Olympic Committee, Red Bull, and FIFA.
“I believe that when Fred [Kerley] breaks [Usain Bolt’s] 100-meter record, it will be a watershed moment for enhanced humans,” D’Souza said.
It’s not just about record-breaking. It’s about mainstreaming enhancement and positioning it as the answer to an urgent global crisis: population collapse.
The Bigger Picture: Demographic Doom and the Death of Work
D’Souza’s vision is rooted in hard demographic math. Fertility rates are falling worldwide, with Japan’s average age now nearly 50. Many countries rely on immigration to fill labor gaps, but immigration has become a political flashpoint, especially in the U.S. and Europe.
“If you’re against mass immigration, you end up with a demographic model that looks like Japan,” D’Souza said.
“So how do you reconcile the desire for economic growth with an anti-immigration modality? Longevity and enhancement. There’s no other way.”
In short: enhance humans to work longer, pay taxes longer, and stay productive into old age. It’s a stark — and controversial — pitch.
AI, AGI, and the Race to Stay Relevant
Backing for The Enhanced Games comes from some of the same investors betting heavily on artificial general intelligence (AGI), which could make human labor obsolete. But D’Souza sees enhancement as a counter-vision.
- AGI backers like Sam Altman predict a future where machines outperform humans at every task.
- D’Souza rejects that outcome: “We must compete with the machines. Outdated anti-doping regulations are stifling us.”
The Games are designed as a symbolic counterpunch to the notion that humans will fade into irrelevance. In D’Souza’s paradigm, enhancement isn’t cheating — it’s survival.
The Ethical Divide: Who Gets to Be Enhanced?
The strategy raises glaring questions about access and equity.
- The model sells premium telehealth protocols to consumers, marketed through the performance of elite athletes.
- D’Souza admits this may initially benefit the wealthy, who will afford enhancements long before the average person.
“I think that is a potentially pernicious consequence of human enhancement,” he said.
He believes over time, “technology diffusion” will make it more accessible — but that’s far from guaranteed.
The real risk: a new class divide between the enhanced and the aging.
More Than a Spectacle: A Political and Economic Pitch
While the Enhanced Games might look like a science fiction spectacle come to life, it’s also a serious political proposition — especially to leaders who:
- Oppose immigration
- Want to maintain economic growth
- Face labor shortages in aging societies
And with Thiel and Trump Jr. on board — both vocal about national demographics and sovereignty — the Games align with a techno-conservative agenda that values self-reliance over social reform.
D’Souza frames it this way:
“Sputnik launched the space age. ChatGPT launched the AI boom. I believe an enhanced 100-meter sprint could launch the human enhancement era.”
