Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang has rejected predictions that artificial intelligence will lead to the extinction of the human race within a few years, calling such assertions overblown “doomsday narratives”.
Huang, co-founder and chief executive of the $5tn AI chipmaker, said claims made on social media by former Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon that AI could become “superhuman” and kill off humanity within the decade were “irresponsible”.
“2030 is not going to be the end of the world. There is 0% chance that’s going to be the end of the world,” Huang said in an interview with CBS News. “Scaring people is unnecessary. It is irresponsible.”
Warnings and political reactions
Coxon’s remarks, backed by two other researchers at Anthropic, the maker of the AI model Claude, prompted an international debate about the dangers and lack of oversight of AI as companies race to develop ever more powerful models.
Earlier this month, US lawmakers attacked AI companies over the risks as Anthropic published a threat intelligence report detailing how criminals, state-sponsored groups, spyware vendors, scientists and propagandists have attempted to use its powerful AI models to design missiles and bombs, create deadly pathogens and surveil dissidents.
Dario Amodei, chief executive of Anthropic, Sam Altman, boss of ChatGPT maker OpenAI, and Elon Musk have all called for development of the technology to be slowed. However, Donald Trump has dismissed anxiety over AI development as a “hoax” and a “conspiracy”, adding that a slowdown could give China the edge.
Huang’s defence and new dialogue
On Sunday, Scott Bessent, the US Treasury secretary, said the US and China have agreed to set up an AI dialogue mechanism to alert each other to help contain the technology’s potential dangers.
Huang insisted that predictions of an extinction-level event caused by AI were “not grounded in science”.
“Our company’s success is directly connected to the safe deployment of products and services,” he said. “If we don’t continue to do that, our value would be diminished. You have all kinds of liabilities associated with cybersecurity [and damage liability laws]. Apply that first. Don’t let this doomsday narrative allow someone to relieve them of the laws that currently exist.”
