Thursday, September 10, 2026 - Senator Ted Cruz has said Elon Musk previously estimated
there was a 10% to 20% chance that artificial intelligence could ultimately
destroy humanity.
The Texas Republican discussed Musk’s prediction during an
appearance on “The View” on Wednesday, recalling a conversation he had with the
Tesla and SpaceX chief executive earlier this year. According to Cruz, Musk
placed the probability of AI wiping out humanity at between 10% and 20%.
Cruz recalled reacting to the estimate by saying, “Holy
crap!!!” The senator was referring to a conversation with Musk on “The Verdict
with Ted Cruz” podcast in January, during which Musk said such a catastrophic
AI scenario could potentially occur within the next “5 to 10 years.”
Cruz revisited the discussion following warnings this week
from former Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon, whose comments the senator
described as “highly disturbing.” Coxon, who recently left his position at
Anthropic, told The Wall Street Journal that some of the people developing
advanced AI systems “earnestly believe it could kill us all by the end of the
decade.”
After his comments were reported, Coxon expanded on his
concerns on social media, accusing AI industry leaders of moving too quickly
towards increasingly powerful systems. “They are racing straight to
self-improving superintelligence and gambling with our lives,” Coxon wrote.
The warnings from Musk and Coxon represent their assessments
of potential future AI risks rather than established predictions about what
will happen as the technology develops.
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