Palantir CTO Says Some AI Researchers Smoke to Display Faith in Technology

Palantir chief technology officer Shyam Sankar said some artificial-intelligence researchers have taken up smoking to demonstrate confidence that AI will eventually cure cancer, though he did not identify any researchers or provide evidence for the claim.

“So many AI researchers have started smoking as a way of signaling to other researchers how much they believe in AI,” Sankar said Sunday on CBS News’ “Face the Nation.” He described their logic as putting “all” their chips on AI’s ability to cure the disease.

Business Insider previously reported that a small group of technology founders, engineers and investors had embraced cigarettes for reasons including networking, cultivating a less-polished image and believing future technology could eliminate smoking-related health risks. Avi Schiffmann, founder of AI wearable startup Friend, told the publication that AI robots were expected to have cured lung cancer by the time smokers developed it.

Sankar offered the anecdote while criticizing what he called Silicon Valley’s “mass psychosis” and “social delusion” surrounding AI. He said some people building the technology had placed quasi-religious faith in artificial general intelligence, describing it as the “machine god of AGI.” Smoking remains a major cause of preventable illness and death.