Hugging Face CEO says AI extinction risk is near zero, warns about concentrated control

At the WIRED World Fair in Miami on Wednesday, Hugging Face chief executive Clément Delangue put the likelihood of AI causing human extinction near zero. He called the figure a personal estimate rather than a measured one and argued that the bigger danger is a small number of companies developing advanced AI privately, beyond outside scrutiny; open models, he said, allow independent researchers to examine risks. AI chipmaker Nvidia has agreed to acquire Hugging Face; an SEC filing lists about $11.9 billion for shareholders and up to $1 billion in employee retention, with the deal still needing regulatory approval and expected to close in the first half of 2027.