Cathie Wood calls AI extinction fears ridiculous, backs safety push

Cathie Wood wants the AI industry to pump the brakes. She just doesn’t think the car is heading off a cliff. The ARK Invest founder, speaking at a briefing in Sydney on September 15, threw her support behind a pledge to slow the pace of AI capabilities development, while simultaneously calling fears of AI-driven human extinction “ridiculous.” What prompted Wood’s comments The backdrop here is a proposal from Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, who on September 12 called for leading AI companies to collaborate on safety measures. The list of firms Amodei wants at the table includes OpenAI, Tesla, and Elon Musk’s xAI. Wood was quick to point out that ARK Invest holds stakes in several of these companies, including Tesla, SpaceX, OpenAI, and Anthropic. So when she weighs in on AI safety, she’s not just philosophizing. She’s talking her book, and she knows it. Her argument boils down to this: the AI industry should take safety seriously, but the conversation should focus on practical threats like cybersecurity rather than sci-fi scenarios about machines wiping out humanity. She expressed optimism that open discussions among AI leaders could redirect attention toward those tangible risks. M...