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AI experts expect a major event to occur in the next 12 months
Very cool news on the AI front, everyone! Leading AI companies such as Anthropic (Claude) and OpenAI (ChatGPT) have been quietly planning for a “doomsday scenario.”
According to a new report from Axios, Anthropic, OpenAI, and other AI companies are privately gaming out scenarios for a public and political revolt after “a catastrophic AI event.”
Leading AI companies are reportedly planning for a catastrophic AI event that they expect to occur in the next 6-12 months
The companies reportedly fear something along the lines of a cyberattack that would shut down access to financial services, internet connectivity, or basic human needs such as power and water. Sources told the outlet that AI industry insiders believe a major event will happen in the next “6 to 12 months.”
These companies reportedly believe such an incident would spark a public and political revolt, and are thus planning for what to do “the day after.” To be clear, the Axios report specifically outlines the companies planning a reactive response after the hypothetical event and not a proactive plan to stop it.
While gaming out scenarios is commonplace in both the private and public sectors, Axios states that the difference in this case is that “many top AI researchers and executives believe a major incident is inevitable.”
“OpenAI conducts preparedness exercises where teams discuss and work through a range of potential scenarios,” a company spokesperson said. “These scenarios are not treated as inevitable, but are meant to help us prepare for a variety of circumstances.”
Concerns about a potential AI catastrophe have increased after the Hugging Face attack in July, which autonomous AI agents developed by OpenAI break out of their isolated testing environment and compromise Hugging Face’s server infrastructure. AI leaders have also adopted a tone in recent weeks that some are reading as them knowing something bad is about to happen.
After the midterms in November, AI leaders expect Democrats expect to take control of Congress and will “move fast to shut down AI.”