News Summary

• The AI safety movement grew out of a tangle of online message boards such as LessWrong.
• The movement argues it is necessary to take seriously the possibility that the technology could wipe out humanity at some point in the future.
• As both companies grew at extraordinary speed, that view has won new prominence.
• Whether right or wrong, the movement can now shape both policy and public opinion, like inciting this week's firestorm about the risk of human extinction, which flared across social media and prime time newscasts.