Why lab safety staff staying put is consistent: the nuclear-arms-race logic of AI risk believers

AndyMasley · x · 2026-09-09

Andy Masley argues it's consistent for AI-risk believers at major labs to keep working there: if AI is wildly capable, it's wildly valuable, so many companies will race for it regardless. They see themselves like policymakers in the nuclear arms race—preferring to exit the dynamic but seeing no way out, so they push for change from inside, hoping for catastrophe prevention or external regulation to break the race. He concedes the worldview could be wrong but sees no inconsistency.

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