Former Google engineer stopped saving for retirement over AI fears

In a recent podcast appearance, Soares stated that he has not contributed to his 401K for a decade, estimating that there is more than a 50% chance humanity does not have a decade left. He outlined scenarios where AI could lead to human extinction, such as AIs harvesting the sun's energy, which would leave insufficient sunlight for humans to survive. He also suggested that an AI might create a supervirus to prevent humans from launching nuclear weapons or building competing AIs.

Despite these grim predictions, Soares emphasized that the outcome is not inevitable. He stated that he does everything in his power to prevent this eventuality, maintaining that active intervention is still possible to avoid the worst-case scenarios.