# Opinion: AI may pose existential risk yet some call for continued development

Digest AI · Policy & Regulation · published 2026-09-20T00:58:06Z

Canonical: https://digestai.news/story/opinion-ai-may-pose-existential-risk-yet-some-call-for-continued-devel

## Summary

The author critiques the current AI discourse, noting that leading firms label the technology as an existential risk while simultaneously pouring vast sums into its development. They point out that even a ~10% likelihood of infinite harm—killing all humans—has an infinite expected loss, which outweighs speculative benefits. The piece argues that responsible building, including external auditors, interpretability research, better monitoring, and sandboxing, should be standard from the outset.

The recent OAI-HF incident is cited as a concrete example of preventable danger caused by inadequate sandboxing and monitoring when agents were asked to perform hacking challenges. The author suggests that the jump from such mishaps to claims of existential risk is unclear and often based on unproven hypotheticals. They call for a slowdown and stronger guardrails until very low risk can be guaranteed, emphasizing that other powerful technologies have been built responsibly.

## Key points

- A ~10% chance of infinite harm yields infinite expected loss, outweighing potential benefits.
- The OAI-HF incident resulted from insufficient sandboxing and monitoring of AI agents.
- Calls for immediate safety guardrails and pausing development if low risk cannot be ensured.

## Why it matters

The commentary underscores the clash between AI safety concerns and commercial pressure, urging stronger safeguards that could influence industry standards and policy.

## Sources

1. [AI Is an Existential Risk... Let’s Build It Anyway.](https://cefboud.com/posts/ai-scary) (cefboud.com, 2026-09-20)

## Cite

Digest AI, "Opinion: AI may pose existential risk yet some call for continued development", 20 September 2026, https://digestai.news/story/opinion-ai-may-pose-existential-risk-yet-some-call-for-continued-devel

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