{
  "id": 14493218,
  "title": "Researchers cig-nal their faith in AI by taking up smoking",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/14/researchers-cig-nal-their-faith-in-ai-by-taking-up-smoking-14493218",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-10-14T16:18:59.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Register Science",
    "slug": "the-register-science",
    "url": "https://www.theregister.com/ai-and-ml/2026/10/14/researchers-cig-nal-their-faith-in-ai-by-taking-up-smoking/5303118"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Silicon Valley's AI researchers are adopting a peculiar habit to demonstrate their unwavering faith in artificial intelligence: smoking cigarettes, despite the known risks of cancer. Palantir's Chief Technology Officer, Shyam Sankar, claims that this behavior is a sign of their belief that AI will eventually cure cancer. Sankar described this as a \"bet\" that AI will develop a cure for health issues, including cancer, and a \"mass psychosis\" and \"social delusion\" that undermines serious discussions about AI. He blames effective altruism, a philosophy focusing on making the most effective decisions that benefit the most humans, for this irrational behavior. Effective altruists prioritize long-term approaches to issues and are concerned with ensuring AI systems are built in a way that will benefit humanity. Sankar believes that the majority of AI researchers in America subscribe to this worldview, making it a prominent reason for the prevalence of AI doomerism in Silicon Valley. He likens this faith in machine god-like AI to the religious belief in a divine savior. However, experts warn that this form of \"faith\" may not be a wise decision, as developing a cancer cure through AI is a lengthy process, and the risks of cancer are still very real.",
  "summary": "What are they puffing? Tobacco, apparently. Cancer researcher tells El Reg it's a bad bet",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "The Register",
        "title": "Researchers cig-nal their faith in AI by taking up smoking",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/14/researchers-cig-nal-their-faith-in-ai-by-taking-up-smoking",
        "published": "2026-10-14T16:18:59.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}