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AI catastrophe warnings split experts

4h

AI companies and Germany's federal cybersecurity chief warned of potentially catastrophic, hard-to-control AI-driven attacks and existential risks, while critics said such panic was exaggerated.

by Timothy D. McBride

0%
mcbridetd.bsky.social
Why a swift AI pause is unlikely: No one trusts AI companies www.axios.com/2026/09/15/a...
Why a swift AI pause is unlikely: No one trusts AI companies
Few really trust the industry, or the safety advocates who come from deep inside it.
www.axios.com
September 15, 2026 at 10:48 PM

by Timothy D. McBride

0%
mcbridetd.bsky.social
What an AI slowdown would mean www.politico.com/news/2026/09...
What an AI slowdown would mean
Would restraining the growth of artificial intelligence's dangers require a U.S.-China pact? Or a change to antitrust law? Or just a willingness in Silicon Valley to choose humanity over profits?
www.politico.com
September 15, 2026 at 10:38 PM

by Leah Stokes

8%
leahstokes.bsky.social
A new existential threat, created by a small group of people in an industry that knew the risks, all while we are still busy dealing with another existential threat, created by the fossil fuel industry, which knew the risks. Check out my latest Substack here: open.substack.com/pub/electric...
September 15, 2026 at 10:33 PM

by Timothy D. McBride

0%
mcbridetd.bsky.social
The people who fear AI are wasting time fighting each other www.vox.com/future-perfe...
The people who fear AI are wasting time fighting each other
The AI risk debate has become pointlessly tribal. There’s a way out.
www.vox.com
September 15, 2026 at 10:06 PM

by Timothy D. McBride

0%
mcbridetd.bsky.social
Trump Dismisses Dangers of AI:
'The Whole Thing is a Hoax’ www.today.com/video/trump-...
Trump Dismisses Dangers of AI: ‘The Whole Thing is a Hoax’
While most lawmakers are saying it’s time to enact guardrails against AI, President Donald Trump is continuing to downplay the potential dangers. In a surprise on-stage call to the head of Nvidia, Jen...
www.today.com
September 15, 2026 at 9:56 PM

by David Darmofal

6%
daviddarmofal.bsky.social
This is a good guide to where various figures in Silicon Valley and in politics stand on AI.
How A.I. Risks Are Splitting Silicon Valley and Washington (Gift Article)
What began as a philosophical question — how dangerous might artificial intelligence become? — has hardened into increasingly entrenched rival camps.
www.nytimes.com
September 15, 2026 at 9:47 PM

Reposted by Fabián Muniesa

2%
dairinstitute.bsky.social
@timnitgebru.blacksky.app gives a history lesson on AI "existential risk" talk and explains how we don't have to accept Big Tech's utopia or apocalyptic visions for the future:

www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/...
Watch Gebru: AI Security & Safety Is About Human Control - Bloomberg
Timnit Gebru DAIR Institute Founder & Executive Director, discusses her early warnings about artificial intelligence risks and her departure from Google’s ethical AI team in 2020. She discusses whethe...
www.bloomberg.com
September 15, 2026 at 9:22 PM

by James Grimmelmann

27%
jtlg.bsky.social
Bad content drives out good.

www.404media.co/ai-agent-pla...
AI Agent Platform Reinvents Spam, Floods Inboxes Worldwide
iLands and its AI agents are doing completely useless tasks, then begging for money.
www.404media.co
September 15, 2026 at 9:18 PM

Reposted by Suresh Venkatasubramanian

29%
faineg.bsky.social
I’m sorry folks, but if you are among those who both understand how insane the Rationalist AI Sex Cult currently running the U.S. AI industry and who can explain it to others, you have a patriotic duty to do so now.

Even though reading their writing absolutely does cause brain damage.
September 15, 2026 at 8:42 PM

by Paul Fisher

1%
paulfish.bsky.social
I’m pretty sure they are crazy too but not in the “future AI god will torture us way” but more the “my army of AI slaves will replace you punny humans way”. My view is they play up the risk stuff in a more insincere reason to motivate people funding them to give them more cash.
September 15, 2026 at 8:40 PM

by Daniel J. Solove

18%
daniel-solove.bsky.social
AI co's to society: "Hi, I'm new to the neighborhood. I'm loud and disruptive, I'll take everything I can grab, build hideous buildings nearby, hog water and electricity, and drive up bills, so you pay for it. I'll take your job and possibly kill you. I hope you give me a warm welcome!"
September 15, 2026 at 8:08 PM

Reposted by Brian Weatherson, McKenzie Wark, Larry W. Hunter

10%
faineg.bsky.social
The U.S. AI industry is being run by a batshit rationalist sex cult, and no, I am not being hyperbolic - they’re genuinely Like That:
Erin Redwing @realizingerin I went to an rationalist/EA Al doomer event last night with the goal of meeting someone who could calmly explain to me the argument for how they get to the conclusion that Al will kill everyone. Because these are rationalists, I expected to find people who could lay out a serious extinction pathway, walk through the assumptions and intermediate steps, identify choke points where negative pathways could potentially be regulated, and entertain disagreement about where their assumptions might break down. My experience was the exact opposite. The people I spoke to seemed psychologically unable to entertain the possibility that their conclusion (that Al literally kills everyone, which was a point that many would not even budge on) might be wrong. Their most extreme conclusion was treated as an axiom. I had multiple people walk out of conversations with me when I questioned their inevitable extinction premise. At one point during a panel, the moderator asked everyone in the audience who was still skeptical of Al doom to raise their hands. About half the room did. He then told all of the skeptics to leave the panel and go with one of the speakers, who would answer their questions separately. They filtered out all the skeptics, and continued the panel only with the subset who accepted their extreme position. I genuinely felt like a heretic just for questioning whether superintelligent Al inevitably leads to the extinction of humanity, or entertaining the possibility that the future might actually turn out well. That does not mean Al safety is fake. Obviously there are serious questions about rapidly advancing Al systems and what happens as they become much more capable. Those are exactly the conversations I went there hoping to have. But what I encountered was an apocalyptic death cult. These people are not rational. They are deeply afraid, they reinforce that fear in one another, and they have become so emotionally committed to apocalypse
September 15, 2026 at 8:06 PM

by Timothy D. McBride

0%
mcbridetd.bsky.social
Casar urges AI whistleblowers to speak out as worst-case predictions mount www.politico.com/news/2026/09...
Casar urges AI whistleblowers to speak out as worst-case predictions mount
The Texas Democrat said he has heard from experts who have hesitated to speak out about the technology’s risks for fear of sounding alarmist.
www.politico.com
September 15, 2026 at 7:50 PM

Reposted by Christina Pagel

3%
seismatters.bsky.social
“Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang says there's no need for new laws on AI - instead AI companies should "simply not release anything that they are not confident will be safe" 🧐
September 15, 2026 at 7:40 PM

by Alan Richardson

8%
alanrichardson.bsky.social
100% credulity that AI causes the extinction of humanity within 10 years.
September 15, 2026 at 7:38 PM

by Sam Illingworth

5%
samillingworth.com
⚖️ MPs tell the UK to stop winging it on AI

A cross-party committee wants a law protecting human rights from AI, warning ministers have no framework as it spreads across public services.

🔗 computerweekly.com/news/366649608/UK-lawmakers-call-for-new-law-to-protect-human-rights-from-AI-systems

#AI
UK lawmakers call for new law to protect human rights from AI systems | Computer Weekly
MPs and peers call for the UK to create a statutory AI oversight body with powers to test and evaluate high-risk uses of AI and to prevent the deployment of AI that poses risks to human rights.
computerweekly.com
September 15, 2026 at 7:29 PM

by Marco Casassa Mont

47%
marcocasassamont.bsky.social
Thought-provoking article about the emerging cyber security challenges cutting across digital, physical and operational environments ...

www.csoonline.com/article/4221...
AI is exposing a security structure built for yesterday’s threats
AI-driven threats are blurring cyber and physical security, making integrated, cross-functional defense essential for resilience.
www.csoonline.com
September 15, 2026 at 6:48 PM

Reposted by Diane Ravitch

2%
kathartness.bsky.social
Critics stunned as Trump claims his 'high IQ' is enough to regulate AI

www.alternet.org/trump-artifi...
Critics stunned as Trump claims his 'high IQ' is enough to regulate AI
President Donald Trump on Monday slapped down the idea of putting guardrails on artificial intelligence, despite increased warnings from industry insiders and outside experts about the technology’s po...
www.alternet.org
September 15, 2026 at 6:38 PM

by Alfie Kohn

7%
alfiekohn.bsky.social
In a rational society, something as problematic - and as potentially devastating - as AI would of course be strictly regulated by the government. But we're still in thrall to Reagan-era free-market ideology that leaves for-profit companies to police themselves. Laissez-faire dogma could kill us all.
atrupar.com Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 12h
Mike Johnson on OpenAI and Anthropic: "They can self-police. They can self-regulate."
September 15, 2026 at 6:02 PM

by Deborah Avant

15%
deborahavant.bsky.social
In which @himself.bsky.social repeats my favorite Tilly quote: "Our methodology should fit “like a sweatshirt and not like a straitjacket." Worth a read and glad he is working more on this.
www.programmablemutter.com/p/how-should...
How should social science think about AI?
Big structures and large processes are back, baby
www.programmablemutter.com
September 15, 2026 at 5:58 PM
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