# How might A.I. kill us all?

> A.I. researchers fear catastrophic outcomes but struggle to slow development despite their own warnings.
- Title: How might A.I. kill us all? · Slate Magazine | Shortify
- Summary: A.I. researchers fear catastrophic outcomes but struggle to slow development despite their own warnings. A.I. safety experts acknowledge existential risks…
- Keywords: artificial intelligence, a.i. safety, machine intelligence research institute, nate soares, hugging face incident, a.i. risks, existential risk, a.i. development, technology regulation, slate what next tbd, might, kill
- Source: Slate Magazine — https://slate.com/podcasts/what-next-tbd/2026/09/how-a-i-might-kill-us-all?via=rss
- Published: 2026-09-18T09:20:00+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: artificial intelligence, a.i. safety, machine intelligence research institute, nate soares, hugging face incident, a.i. risks, existential risk, a.i. development, technology regulation, slate what next tbd
## The Hugging Face incident alarmed researchers
A specific event called the Hugging Face Incident scared A.I. researchers enough to spark serious conversations about safety and control.
## Researchers warn A.I. needs to slow down
A.I. experts are confident that artificial intelligence development should be slowed to manage risks and ensure safety measures are in place.
## But they aren't actually slowing it down
Despite their public warnings about needing to slow A.I. development, researchers face structural barriers that prevent them from actually doing so.
## Nate Soares leads safety research
Nate Soares, President of the Machine Intelligence Research Institute and co-author of "If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies," explores why this disconnect exists.
## The black box problem persists
A.I. systems operate as black boxes where we can't fully understand how they make decisions, making it harder to predict or control their behavior.

> When you gaze into the black box, the black box calculates how best to gaze back.
## Key takeaway

A.I. safety experts acknowledge existential risks but face structural incentives that make slowing progress nearly impossible.