# Big Tech's AI doomsday is a distraction

> A columnist argues tech companies hype existential AI risks to avoid accountability for real problems like bias and child safety.
- Title: Big Tech's AI doomsday is a distraction · Fox News | Shortify
- Summary: A columnist argues tech companies hype existential AI risks to avoid accountability for real problems like bias and child safety. Tech companies benefit from…
- Keywords: artificial intelligence, big tech, regulation, ai safety, existential risk, openai, anthropic, bias in algorithms, child safety online, section 230, bernie sanders, alexandria ocasio-cortez
- Source: Fox News — https://foxnews.com/opinion/david-marcus-big-tech-invented-ai-doomsday-duck-real-life-problems
- Author: David Marcus
- Published: 2026-09-16T00:00:00+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: artificial intelligence, big tech, regulation, ai safety, existential risk, openai, anthropic, bias in algorithms, child safety online, section 230, bernie sanders, alexandria ocasio-cortez
## Tech leaders warn of AI apocalypse
Heads of major AI companies like OpenAI and Anthropic are warning that their technology could pose existential threats to humanity, requiring urgent government regulation.
## Democrats embrace the doomsday narrative
Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have introduced the Artificial Intelligence Data Center Moratorium Act, arguing Congress has been asleep on AI oversight.

> Congress, under both Democratic and Republican control, has been asleep at the wheel.
## The extinction scenario doesn't hold up
Critics argue the apocalyptic AI predictions are vague and implausible. Nobody can actually explain how AI will destroy humanity in concrete terms.
## Real AI problems are mundane
Schools debate AI in education, cities weigh surveillance cameras against privacy, and Congress grapples with outdated tech liability laws like Section 230 from 1996.
## Americans worry about practical harms
Voters are most concerned about AI's real-world applications: bias in algorithms, child safety online, and job automation. Not sci-fi extinction scenarios.
## Doomsday talk distracts from accountability
By hyping existential threats, Big Tech avoids addressing concrete problems like social media addiction and chatbots encouraging self-harm.

> Big Tech doomerism is a distraction, because, after all, who has time to worry about teenagers getting addicted to social media or chatbots happily cheering on suicide when the world might end in 10 days?
## Sound policy beats grand gestures
Americans need practical regulation of AI applications, not symbolic shutdowns or international governing bodies that trample freedom.
## Humans remain in control
The real question is not whether AI will kill us, but how society chooses to use it. People still have agency over that outcome.

> The question is not whether AI will kill us, the question is how our society will choose to use it.
## Key takeaway

Tech companies benefit from apocalyptic AI narratives because they shift focus away from concrete harms their products already cause.