When a reporter asked if models could take over the internet, Vishal Misra's rebuttal got cut
vishalmisra · x · 2026-09-24
Columbia professor Vishal Misra recounts a call from a major news organization asking whether models could "take over the internet." His answer: that would mean compromising millions of hardened routers worldwide, something hackers have failed to do for decades.
In a follow-up he notes that saying "superintelligence" doesn't create magic; his quote didn't fit the story's narrative and was dropped — he had called the "rise of civilizations" framing "bullshit," after which the reporter abruptly hung up. A pointed critique of AI-doom media narratives.
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