The Techno-Religion at the Center of the A.I. Debate

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<p>Last week, a group of tech leaders called for putting guardrails on artificial intelligence. This week, these calls have been met by backlash from tech executives, lawmakers and President Trump, who liken those ringing the alarm to a doomsday cult.</p><p>Cade Metz, a technology reporter for The New York Times, explains where this criticism comes from and why it matters.</p><p>Guest: <strong>Cade Metz</strong>, a technology reporter for The New York Times.</p><p>Background reading:&nbsp;</p><ul><li><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/10/science/ai-humanity-risk.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">A.I. could possibly end humanity</a>. How are humans supposed to process that?</li><li><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/16/science/ai-recursive-self-improvement.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">“Recursive self-improvement” is an idea</a> that terrifies A.I. doomsayers.</li><li><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/12/technology/anthropic-dario-amodei-ai-slowdown.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Top A.I. leaders called</a> for slowing down A.I. development last week.</li></ul><p>Photo: Mikala Compton/The Austin American-Statesman via Getty Images</p> <p><p>For more information on today’s episode, visit <a href="http://nytimes.com/thedaily?smid=pc-thedaily"><strong>nytimes.com/thedaily</strong></a>. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. </p><p> </p><p>Subscribe today at <a href="http://nytimes.com/podcasts">nytimes.com/podcasts</a> or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher">https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher</a>. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.</p></p><br/> <p>Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.</p>