Artificial Intelligence

Don't Blame AI Labs for What Hackers Do With Their Tools

AI executives are planning for a public revolt after a major attack. A federal power grab is the wrong response.

Tosin Akintola | 10.9.2026 4:25 PM

Share on FacebookShare on XShare on RedditShare by emailPrint friendly versionCopy page URL Add Reason to Google

Media Contact & Reprint Requests

(Illustration: Anna Om/Wangbar/Fernando Gregory/Irontrybex/Dreamstime/Midjourney/Fatima Ruiz.)

On Friday, Axios reported that "Top executives at Anthropic, OpenAI and other AI companies are privately gaming out scenarios for a public and political revolt after a catastrophic AI event." The executives "anticipate a large-scale event, most likely a cyberattack," that would shut down financial services, disrupt the internet, and cut off power and water. Insiders in the AI industry told the outlet that a "major event will occur in the next six to 12 months."

AI companies are rightly worried that if a major hack were to happen, "an already wary public," according to Axios, would turn even more against the industry and blame its leaders and President Donald Trump for a presumed absence of government oversight. A poll by the Associated Press and the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research released Thursday found that 64 percent of U.S. adults "think AI is developing 'too fast.'" The public also doesn't think highly of Trump's handling of the industry, with 67 percent of U.S. adults "disapproving........

© Reason.com