Senators Worry About Recursive Self-Improvement
peterwildeford · x · 2026-07-13
According to this quote, before having dinner with a US Senator, AI researcher Nate Soares was warned not to bring up "too many crazy ideas," yet they immediately dove into the risks of AI being used to trigger a pandemic.
More interestingly, the Senator's primary concern wasn't just biological security, but rather "companies building AI that can build smarter AI," which could trigger recursive self-improvement and lead to catastrophic consequences within three years.
Sourced from @PeterMcCormack's show, the core of this is a private conversation regarding AI risk priorities.
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