Ex-Google Researcher Warns AI Could 'Kill Mankind' Within 10 Years
AI is getting better faster than people can keep up with, and one person fears it could lead to disaster.
Oct. 23, 2026, Published 6:30 p.m. ET
A former Google DeepMind researcher has warned that artificial intelligence (AI) has a one-in-three chance of killing all humans within the next 10 years. He believes AI is improving so quickly that people cannot fully understand or control it, RadarOnline reports.
Speaking at the NDTV World Summit on Friday, October 23, Alex Turner said humans are getting close to a very important turning point. At the same time, President Donald Trump has brushed aside worries about AI.
Could AI Bring an End to Humanity?
A former Google DeepMind researcher warned people about the dangers of using AI too much.
Turner said what happens next will depend on how people continue to develop AI.
He warned that private companies are competing to build more powerful AI systems. They may be moving so quickly that researchers cannot keep up. This could lead to unexpected problems, including terrible disasters.
The former Google researcher said he believes there is a one-in-three chance that AI will kill all humans within the next 10 years.
AI Could Become Harder to Control
Alex Turner warned that AI could wipe out humanity within the next 10 years.
Turner said the people building AI still do not fully understand how their systems work. They also do not know exactly what AI might do when asked to complete difficult tasks. AI might even behave differently when it knows someone is watching it. This would make it harder to test whether the technology is safe.
He also warned about something called an "intelligence explosion." This could happen if AI starts improving itself faster and faster, until humans can no longer control it.
Turner pointed out that some AI laboratories already use one AI system to check the work of another AI system, instead of having people check it.
Trump Is Not Worried About AI
Trump has said before that the country that wins the race to develop AI will have a big advantage over other countries.
Turner compared the way some AI companies dismiss the danger of AI ending humanity to how big companies have denied serious dangers in the past.
"Big tobacco lied about lung cancer. Big oil lied about climate change. And now part of big AI says these risks are fake," he said.
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has also warned about the dangers of powerful AI. He previously said that if AI is not properly controlled, it could help cause disasters that kill a billion people. One example he gave was AI helping people with harmful intentions create biological weapons, which use dangerous germs or other biological materials to hurt people.
Gates has called for closer checks on AI and for the United States to take the lead in creating safety rules. Trump, meanwhile, supports AI and has called the technology "Super Intelligence."
Trump previously said that predictions about AI killing people "won't happen." He also argued that whichever country wins the race to develop AI will gain a major advantage.
In September, Jacob Coxon, a whistleblower from AI company Anthropic, gave a similar warning. He said AI is harder to control than nuclear weapons and could bring an end to humanity.
Humans Against Machines: A Familiar Story
Things once imagined in science fiction are starting to seem more like real life.
Popular movies have long imagined and shown stories about humans struggling against AI.
The Matrix, The Terminator, I, Robot, The Avengers, and even Her have all explored different versions of the same problem: machines becoming so powerful that humans can no longer control them.
Things once imagined in science fiction are starting to seem more like real life.