Getty Images; Tyler Le/BIThe AGI House, in San Francisco's hilly Twin Peaks neighborhood, is a mansion with an expansive view of the Golden Gate Bridge and the hills of Marin, seven bedrooms, and a toilet on the main floor so modern that it includes written instructions on how to operate. It houses technologists working to accelerate artificial general intelligence, and hosts events that bring together people working toward this mission. But on April 12, the house was reserved for another potentially world-altering development: peptides.More than 100 people arrived for the California Peptide Club, an invite-only gathering to discuss the substances that have become synonymous with self-optimization.

Attendees included several clinicians who prescribe peptides, a peptide manufacturer, the founder of a longevity DAO, a Stanford researcher, and dozens of people who identified as "peptide curious," searching for either the resources or confidence to build their own "stacks." Another 300 had been waitlisted. "Creating the allure of getting invited to the house is actually one of the priorities," says Julius Ritter, the event's organizer and the president of the AGI House.Interest around peptides has been surging.

In April, Google searches for the word "peptide" overtook "pickleball." Joe Rogan takes peptides; so does Jennifer Aniston. The phrase "Chinese peptide dealer" has become a meme, creating a sense of superiority among those who are pepped-up.

For those who are not, it can feel like being locked out of the world's greatest party, where everyone is getting hotter, smarter, and better.Ritter, 24, started the California Peptide Club to widen this circle. His peptide journey began several years ago, when blood tests revealed that his testosterone levels were "in the bottom one percent of men my age," he says. Medication helped somewhat, but not completely.

Then he learned about peptides and decided to experiment with CJC-1295 and Ipamorelin, a combination used to stimulate growth hormone production. "I was the only one in my friend group doing it," he says. "My roommates made fun of me.

They were like, 'Julius, join the guys in the Tenderloin, injecting yourself in the butt.'"His results were underwhelming, but a different stack — BPC-157, SS31, Ipamorelin, Tesamorelin, and IGF-1 LR3 — made him feel great. Still, information about peptides was scattered; anyone starting a protocol had to be comfortable with a fair amount of risk and self-experimentation without complete data. A community of people could make it easier to compare notes.My roommates made fun of me.

They were like, 'Julius, join the guys in the Tenderloin, injecting yourself in the butt.'"Julius Ritter, president of the AGI HouseOn Sunday, Ritter welcomed people into the AGI House to do just that. This being San Francisco, guests were asked to leave their shoes in a pile at the door. At the entrance stood a pair of black mannequins, which Ritter had adorned with togas — to create a Greco-Roman aesthetic — and had stuffed their outstretched hands with insulin syringes.Many attendees I spoke to seemed curious but cautious about taking peptides.

One woman told me she was too scared to inject GHK-Cu, a copper peptide known for its beauty benefits, but she had started using a topical version in her moisturizer. (Her skin was, indeed, luminous.) Another woman told me she wanted to see more research on popular peptides before trying them, but had already started giving herself injections of NAD+, a coenzyme associated with improved energy and anti-aging. "It's actually kind of fun," she said of stabbing herself with the tiny needle.The event began with Ritter disappointing everyone by announcing that this was not an injection party. Then he asked how many people had taken peptides.

Half the room, or about 50 people, raised their hands. And how many people had injected themselves with a research-only peptide, one labeled "not for human consumption"? Every hand stayed up.While some peptides, such as insulin or GLP-1s like Ozempic, are legal and can be obtained with a doctor's prescription, most fall into a regulatory gray zone and can be sold only as "research" chemicals.

These vials of powder usually come from compounding pharmacies, or research labs in China. This could change in the coming months. On Wednesday, three days after the peptide event, Robert F.

Kennedy Jr., the Secretary of Health and Human Services, announced that he would reclassify a dozen peptides that were previously banned, including BPC-157 for recovery, Semax for cognitive enhancement, and, for some reason Melanotan II, a peptide that helps people tan. But for now, the semi-illicit nature of peptides can make using them feel like a science experiment, or actually just doing drugs. How do you reconstitute the vial of powder?

Where do you buy insulin needles? If you're not working with a doctor, how do you find the right protocol?Sunday's event was intended to answer some of those que