AI Godfather Hinton Warns a Chernobyl-Level AI Accident Could Come Soon

Nobel Prize winner Geoffrey Hinton, known as the 'Godfather of AI,' warned in an interview with UK paper The Guardian that a Chernobyl-level AI accident could happen within the next two years.

He called this summer's OpenAI agent break-in at Hugging Face a 'warning' like the Three Mile Island nuclear accident. A real 'AI Chernobyl,' he said, could be an AI attack causing massive blackouts or a week-long financial system shutdown.

Hinton said he doesn't trust Meta's Zuckerberg, SpaceX's Musk, or OpenAI's Altman, believing they know the risks but only chase profits. He still thinks AI could bring a bright future, but its big dangers make him feel it should never have been built.

He expects humans will learn within ten years or less whether AI risks can be safely managed, and he backs mandatory testing for advanced AI, independent reviews, and shared global standards.