Key facts
- Palantir CTO Shyam Sankar claimed AI researchers are smoking cigarettes to signal their belief that AI will cure cancer.
- Sankar made the claim on CBS's "Face the Nation" without providing data or naming specific individuals.
- The CDC states smoking causes about one in three U.S. cancer deaths.
- Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei previously stated that only curing cancer will earn public trust in AI.
Palantir CTO Shyam Sankar claimed on CBS's "Face the Nation" that many AI researchers have begun smoking cigarettes as a symbolic gesture to demonstrate their conviction that artificial intelligence will eventually cure cancer. Sankar did not provide any data or name specific individuals to support this assertion, making the claim as an aside during a discussion about AI.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that smoking is responsible for approximately one in three cancer deaths in the United States and that cigarette smoke contains numerous cancer-causing chemicals. Smokers face a significantly higher risk of developing lung cancer compared to non-smokers, and quitting can reduce this risk over time.
This narrative of AI curing cancer has been previously described as a "cliche" by Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, who suggested that only the actual achievement of curing cancer would genuinely earn public trust in AI. A recent CBS poll indicated that 50% of Americans believe AI will create more problems than it solves, with 45% advocating for government restrictions on AI development and use.
Sankar also used the interview segment to criticize the effective altruism movement, referring to it as a "millenarian doomsday cult" and linking it to FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried. He suggested that some researchers fill a "god-shaped hole" with a belief in a "machine god called AGI."
Separately, Revamp AI cofounder Stephen Campbell commented that smoking can serve as an accidental networking tool among AI researchers. The International Monetary Fund's Kristalina Georgieva has warned that AI could affect up to 40% of jobs, and there are expectations of a significant AI-related incident within the next year.