Palantir CTO Shyam Sankar said on CBS News' Face the Nation that some AI researchers have begun smoking as a way to signal absolute faith that artificial intelligence will eventually cure cancer. He framed the behavior as a public wager - "I believe so much in AI that it's going to cure cancer. So I'm showing you my chips are all in" - but did not name individuals or offer evidence. The remark connects to an emerging subculture within tech where a small group of founders, engineers, and investors embrace cigarettes as networking rituals or as a contrarian image choice, and echoes comments from startup founder Avi Schiffmann that by the time someone develops lung cancer "our AI robots are supposed to have cured that." The reporting also notes the medical reality that smoking remains a leading cause of preventable illness and death.
Sankar used the smoking anecdote to make a wider critique of Silicon Valley, calling what he sees as a "mass psychosis" and "social delusion" around AI and accusing AI-safety advocates of treating artificial general intelligence as a quasi-religious "machine god." Invoking Blaise Pascal's idea of a "God-shaped hole," he argued many builders have filled that void with belief in AGI. His comments are part of a broader public debate over techno-optimism, risk, and the social dynamics shaping AI development.
Summary generated by AI from the linked article. hn.today is not affiliated with Hacker News or Y Combinator.
Maarten Balliauw explains how to set up a Mastodon account on your own domain without hosting a server by using WebFinger for discoverability. This method allows users to have a consistent address that remains functional even if they switch Mastodon servers. (blog.maartenballiauw.be)
The average movie today contains around 1,535 shots, with blockbuster films exceeding 3,000 shots. Indian cinema features some of the fastest cuts, with films like K.G.F: Chapter 1 having over 6,200 shots in 154 minutes. (stephenfollows.com)
A Delaware jury awarded Qualcomm $2 in damages and found that Arm breached a license agreement. The case involves intellectual property and licensing disputes between the two companies. (reuters.com)
Uv-build is criticized for requiring frequent rebuilds in Gentoo, despite its stability and compatibility across uv versions. It is suggested that the build process could be optimized by reducing update frequency. (blogs.gentoo.org)
Kroger plans to lay off 3,000 corporate employees over three years as it increases its focus on artificial intelligence. The company aims to leverage AI technology to improve its operations and efficiency. (apnews.com)
Americans' trust in the federal government has fallen to historic lows, according to a Gallup poll. This decline reflects growing public dissatisfaction with government performance and leadership. (news.gallup.com)
Today's best Hacker News stories, summarized and screenshotted, one email a day.