Superintelligence is coming. Should we let it?
AI companies have been talking about superintelligent AI likeitsinevitable, but recentsafety incidentslikeOpenAIsHugging Face breacharedemonstratingthe potential dangers of deploying AI systems that are more capable thanhumans.Sowhat happens when wecantreliably control what these systems do? On this episode of TechCrunchsEquitypodcast, Rebecca Bellan is joined byConnor Leahy, an AI researcher, entrepreneur, and now the U.S. Executive Director of []
Superintelligence is coming. Should we let it? | TechCrunch
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Superintelligence is coming. Should we let it?
9:05 AM PDT · September 9, 2026
AI companies have been talking about superintelligent AI like its inevitable, but recent safety incidents like OpenAIs Hugging Face breach are demonstrating the potential dangers of deploying AI systems that are more capable than humans. So what happens when we cant reliably control what these systems do?
On this episode of TechCrunchs Equity podcast, Rebecca Bellan is joined by Connor Leahy, an AI researcher, entrepreneur, and now the U.S. Executive Director of nonprofit ControlAI, which is pushing for a far more radical approach to AI safety: stopping companies from developing superintelligence altogether. Leahy explains why he thinks the risks have become too great to manage through alignment and containment alone, and how what sounded far-fetched six months ago is now being backed by a wave of new legislation.
Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod.
AI, AI regulation, Hugging Face, superintelligence
Theresa Loconsolo is an audio producer at TechCrunch focusing on Equity, the networks flagship podcast. Before joining TechCrunch in 2022, she was one of 2 producers at a four-station conglomerate where she wrote, recorded, voiced and edited content, and engineered live performances and interviews from guests like lovelytheband. Theresa is based in New Jersey and holds a bachelors degree in Communication from Monmouth University.
You can contact or verify outreach from Theresa by emailing theresa.loconsolo@techcrunch.com.
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