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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Technology

Could AI pose a serious threat to our existence?

A protester outside OpenAI headquarters in San Francisco, California, US, calling for a pause in AI development on 21 March 21, 2026.
A protester outside OpenAI headquarters in San Francisco, California, US, calling for a pause in AI development. Photograph: Manuel Orbegozo/Reuters

Here we go again with another round of tech bros claiming that AI is going to develop superintelligence and kill us all (More Anthropic researchers warn of AI’s perils but Musk dismisses ‘psyop’, 10 September). We’ve heard this before. Many, many times.

It’s the familiar plotline of pretty much every sci-fi movie about AI, ever. And these narratives have always been there, but every so often they burst back into the headlines when someone at one of the leading AI companies resigns, or sounds the alarm bells, or when so called “leading AI researchers” sign an open letter.

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