Contrary to popular cynicism, ominous warnings about AI from leaders like Anthropic's CEO are often genuine. Ethan Mollick suggests these executives truly believe in the potential dangers of the technology they are creating, and it's not solely a marketing tactic to inflate its power.

The AI industry inadvertently created a public relations problem. Early, scary rhetoric about job loss and existential risk from leaders at firms like Anthropic has poisoned the well, making the public and politicians more fearful and less supportive of AI advancement.

The most dire predictions of mass unemployment from AI come directly from its creators, like OpenAI's Sam Altman and xAI's Elon Musk. This contradicts the narrative that fear is driven by outsiders, suggesting those closest to the tech see its disruptive power most clearly.

Many top AI CEOs openly admit the extinction-level risks of their work, with some estimating a 25% chance. However, they feel powerless to stop the race. If a CEO paused for safety, investors would simply replace them with someone willing to push forward, creating a systemic trap where everyone sees the danger but no one can afford to hit the brakes.

Claims that AI CEOs use extinction risk as a marketing ploy are unconvincing. Many expressed these concerns long before leading major companies. Furthermore, highlighting catastrophic risk is a poor strategy for attracting investment and actively invites unwanted regulatory attention.

The narrative that AI risk-awareness is just "doomerism" is a recent phenomenon, strategically pushed by those who stand to benefit commercially from unchecked AI development. In reality, concerns about superintelligence risks have been foundational to the AI industry for decades.

The current wave of concern from AI leaders about the technology's dangers should be met with skepticism. These same executives were openly discussing these very existential risks at private dinner parties a decade ago. Their public 'shock' now is a performance, not a recent realization.

AI founders create a paradox by warning of existential threats while seeking massive IPO valuations. This seemingly contradictory behavior makes sense when viewed as a strategy: the "doomer" narrative inflates the technology's perceived power, justifying the high valuation and driving demand for regulatory capture.

AI leaders' apocalyptic messaging about sentient AI and job destruction is a strategy to attract massive investment and potentially trigger regulatory capture. This "AB testing" of messages creates a severe PR problem, making AI deeply unpopular with the public.