Nvidia boss says there is ‘0% chance’ AI destroys the world by 2030

Jensen Huang dismisses warnings from former Anthropic researcher and others as ‘doomsday narratives’

The boss of the chipmaker Nvidia has said AI will not develop to a point that will lead to the extinction of the human race within a few years, rejecting such assertions as overblown “doomsday narratives”.

Jensen Huang, the co-founder and chief executive of the $5tn AI chipmaker, said the claims made on social media by the former Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon that AI could become “superhuman” and kill off humanity within the decade were “irresponsible”.

“2030 is not going to be the end of the world. There is 0% chance that’s going to be the end of the world,” Huang said in an interview with CBS News. “Scaring people is unnecessary. It is irresponsible.”

Coxon’s remarks, which were backed by two other researchers at the maker of the AI system Claude, prompted an international debate about the dangers and lack of oversight of AI as companies race to develop ever more powerful models.

US lawmakers have criticised AI companies over the risks and Anthropic published a threat intelligence report detailing how criminals, state-sponsored groups, spyware vendors, scientists and propagandists have tried to use its powerful AI models to design missiles and bombs, create deadly pathogens and spy on dissidents.

Dario Amodei, the chief executive of Anthropic, Sam Altman, the boss of the ChatGPT maker OpenAI, and Elon Musk have called for development of the technology to be slowed down.

However, Donald Trump has dismissed anxiety over the AI development as a “hoax” and a “conspiracy” , adding that a slowdown could give China the edge.

On Sunday, Scott Bessent, the US Treasury secretary, said the US and China had agreed to set up an AI dialogue mechanism to alert each other to help contain the technology’s potential dangers.

Huang said predictions of an extinction-level event caused by AI were “not grounded in science”.

Huang also claimed AI companies’ recent calls for national and international safety regulation aim to duck existing laws that would hold them to account.

Citing recent cases where AI companies including Anthropic and OpenAI triggered cybersecurity incidents during testing, he said there were plenty of laws to tackle the problems.

“You have cybersecurity unauthorised entry laws, you have damage liabilities … if your product does harm, if your product doesn’t perform as you promised, and if you entered into contracts with companies for service level agreements, there are plenty of laws associated with that. My point is, apply those first. And don’t let this doomsday narrative cause somebody to relieve them of the laws that currently exist.”

He continued: “Now, go and read between the lines. They’re actually not asking for more laws. They’re asking to be relieved of the laws we do have. And I think that’s a problem.”

On Monday the the Tony Blair Institute (TBI) thinktank published a paper arguing that countries risk “profound and compounding disadvantage” if they fail to embrace AI and fall behind other nations.

However, it also warned that the institutions meant to support the choices leaders would have to make were not equipped to do so .

“The previous [industrial] revolution transformed our world over generations, AI will do so within a decade,” said Tony Blair in a foreword to the paper . “New capabilities are emerging at an extraordinary pace, with profound implications for economies, education, science, labour markets, public services and national security. But the risks are equally profound and growing, and so too is public concern.

“Today’s political leaders… must make hard choices that will signficantly alter their countries’ trajectories. However, the institutions of the modern state meant to support political leaders in making these choices are simply not equipped for what is coming.”