AXIOS (Maria Curi) - Scoop: AI companies plot "day after" scenarios for public revolt
Top executives at Anthropic, OpenAI and other AI companies are privately gaming out scenarios for a public and political revolt after a catastrophic AI event . Why it matters: These officials anticipate a large-scale event, most likely a cyberattack, that shuts down access to financial services, internet connectivity, or even power and water. - The first example of significant real-world harm caused by unsafe AI would turn an already wary public further against the technology and its leaders, including Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, as well as President Trump for reluctance to regulate it. The risk: While scenario planning is common within many companies and national security settings — the Pentagon has been…
Why do AI industry insiders believe that a major catastrophic AI event is likely to occur in the near future?
Many industry insiders told Axios that they believe a major event will occur within the next six to 12 months. They are engaging in red-teaming for worst-case scenarios, such as a rogue-agent swarm breaking containment from an internal testing environment or bad actors finding unexpected ways to use available models to cause significant real-world harm.
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What specific legislative proposals are being considered by Democrats to address advanced AI, and what is the industry's stance on them?
Some heavy-handed Democratic proposals include banning superintelligence or pausing advanced AI development. Other proposals have bipartisan support and some industry buy-in, such as a required kill switch on advanced AI systems, though experts have questioned the practical viability of turning off all AI systems. AI executives currently believe that while regulation is unlikely to pass immediately, they must race to educate Congress to shape the policies that will be enacted after a catastrophic event.
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What are the primary challenges and concerns identified by AI planners regarding potential Democratic-led efforts to shut down AI development?
AI planners assume that while Democrats may move quickly to shut down AI, they will face significant hurdles including an aging Congress that may be out of touch with the AI revolution, a global economy that is already heavily intertwined with AI infrastructure buildout, and the existence of numerous open-weight models that can be freely downloaded. Experts suggest that the problem of rogue AI may only be solvable by using AI to fight rogue AI.
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How did a recent cyberattack involving AI tools impact financial organizations in South Korea?
A hacker from China allegedly used AI tools from China-developed models, including DeepSeek, to steal data from tens of thousands of bank customers in South Korea, resulting in reported breaches at two banks. According to cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, the attacker also used Claude Code to seek assistance in finding locations to sell the stolen data.
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What specific types of catastrophic events are top executives at companies like OpenAI and Anthropic privately preparing for in their "day after" scenario planning?
Executives are gaming out scenarios involving a large-scale event, most likely a cyberattack, that could result in the shutdown of essential services such as financial services, internet connectivity, power, or water. These officials anticipate that a significant real-world harm caused by unsafe AI would trigger a public and political revolt against the technology, its leaders (such as Sam Altman and Dario Amodei), and President Trump for his reluctance to regulate the industry.
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