Activist Heads to DC to Back Superintelligence Ban, Invoking Teller's Faulty Nuke Safety Math
erikphoel · x · 2026-09-16
erikphoel published an essay explaining why he is in Washington DC supporting a ban on superintelligence. Reposting it, lumpenspace draws a historical parallel: Teller's safety margin for the first atomic bomb was only 1.6, while Fermi half-jokingly gave 10% odds of igniting the atmosphere. Teller's math turned out wrong — and his inability to accept that no apocalypse was coming led him to build the H-bomb, a dynamic the author implies repeats in AI risk debates.
Related event: Erik Hoel Lobbyies in DC for a Ban on Superintelligence(5 posts)→
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