AI executives and researchers have issued increasingly severe warnings that rapidly developing artificial intelligence could eventually threaten humanity. The article questions whether these predictions reflect genuine safety concerns or strategic rhetoric from leading companies seeking regulation, publicity and an advantage over rivals.

Anthropic employee Jacob Coxon resigned, while researcher Evan Hubinger estimated a greater-than-10% chance that AI could kill all humans within a decade; Anthropic chief Dario Amodei, OpenAI chief Sam Altman and Elon Musk have also urged caution. Critics argue such scenarios rely on hypothetical superintelligence and recursive self-improvement, noting that current AI systems follow human-set objectives and could bring substantial economic, medical and military benefits.