In this satirical Guardian column, John Crace mocks Donald Trump for dismissing AI extinction warnings as a "hoax", contrasting the president's bravado with a growing consensus among tech leaders that artificial intelligence could pose an existential threat within a decade. The piece skewers the disconnect between Trump's claim that his own intelligence can keep AI in check and the fact that even prominent industry figures now take the doomsday scenario seriously, arguing politicians have been left scrambling to catch up on a debate they had largely ignored.

Crace notes that a warning from Jacob Coxon on X prompted an unusually unified response from tech figures, including Geoffrey Hinton, the so-called "godfather of AI", who reportedly called a 10-year doomsday scenario realistic. Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds appeared on Radio 4's Today programme urging the public not to be "too hyperbolic" about a supposed 10% chance of human extinction within ten years, while Crace sardonically contrasts this "crisis" with political attention paid to a £72m donation to Reform by two crypto billionaires, and questions about UK defence spending targets.