Photo via New York Post

AI researchers are taking up smoking for bizarre reason, tech exec claims

Read the original at New York Post ↗
Cite

Wu, T. (2026, October 13). AI researchers are taking up smoking for bizarre reason, tech exec claims. New York Post. https://nypost.com/2026/10/13/tech/confidence-in-ai-cancer-cure-has-silicon-valley-smoking-again-tech-exec-says/

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

New York Post · collected 2026-10-13 · by Titus Wu

Quick Summary

Palantir’s Chief Technology Officer Shyam Sankar told CBS that some AI researchers are taking up smoking as a bizarre way to demonstrate their trust in the technology's potential to mitigate health risks. This claim comes amid concerns about the rapid development of AI following warnings from an Anthropic employee, Jacob Coxon, who warned of the existential threat posed by unchecked AI advancement. While Sankar views this behavior as indicative of a delusional mindset within Silicon Valley, others advocate for continued AI progress due to its potential benefits in healthcare and beyond.
Written by AI on 2026-10-13, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Palantir's Chief Technology Officer Shyam Sankar claimed in a recent CBS interview that some AI researchers are taking up smoking as a way to demonstrate their trust in the technology to save them from health hazards. This bizarre behavior, according to Sankar, is a form of "mass psychosis" and reflects the intense belief among some tech workers that AI will solve major issues like cancer. The comments come amid heated debates over AI's future following an employee at Anthropic, Jacob Coxon, who resigned last month after warning NBC News about the substantial risk AI poses to human life, stating it could potentially kill everyone. Coxon emphasized his statement was not hyperbole or a marketing stunt, highlighting the polarizing nature of discussions surrounding advanced AI technologies.

Written for “AI Researchers And Smoking” on 2026-11-03, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 AI Researchers And Smoking
Technology · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

Nothing to compare against. No article is close enough to this one for the pipeline to have linked or judged the pair.
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
17
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
12%
2 of 17 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
66/100
New York Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Technology
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-13 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

New York Post · 16438 article(s) · 35 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 35 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Titus Wu
80 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 Housing advocate Toby Muresianu joked: “Finally, a politician with the courage to say ‘Maybe in my backyard?’
🔮 Soares is currently the president of the Machine Intelligence Research Institute, a Berkeley nonprofit known for promoting “AI doomerism,” which is the belief that developing superintelligent AI will likely result in human extinction.
🔮 Dem frontrunner Xavier Becerra leaned into his identity when asked what changes he would bring as California governor — but the exchange quickly grew awkward after he was asked to clarify his origin story.
🔮 “Piers, I will keep private conversations between myself and the president confidential,” she said.
🔮 Newsom’s political team said he will “pre-deploy” attorneys specialized in election law to monitor vote counting at county election offices in key congressional districts across the state.
🔮 “Californians deserve a project they can trust, and the governor will continue to insist on that from everybody working on it,” Kawa said.
🔮 Abdennabi ultimately received the plates in May 2024, but she alleged that they were recalled in October 2025 after multiple drivers in cars behind her vehicle filed complaints to the DMV.
🔮 “They will vote for Becerra and hope for the best.”
🔮 The conclusions may have some timely necessity given a historically strong El Niño may churn out stronger-than-usual waves and tides that could cause more erosion.
🔮 I felt like I could have lost my life.”
Also by Titus Wu
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 80 articles by Titus Wu →

Topics

Anthropic CBS Moderna NBC News Palantir

Subjects

Anthropic ORG · 1× CBS ORG · 1× Coxon PERSON · 1× Jacob Coxon PERSON · 1× Moderna ORG · 1× NBC News ORG · 1× Palantir ORG · 1× Sankar PERSON · 1× Shyam Sankar PERSON · 1× Trump PERSON · 1×

Narrative

Much of the administration’s views of AI have been influenced by the other side of the debate, so-called “effective accelerationism,” a philosophy surrounding AI that believes the technology has so much benefit for humanity that any slowing of it will do harm.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-13
🔮 The odd remarks come amid fierce debate over the future of the technology after an employee at AI giant Anthropic recently made stark warnings that AI could kill all humans, sparking industrywide chaos.
2026-10-13 · New York Post
AI researchers are taking up smoking for bizarre reason, tech exec claims · assertive framing

Claims (17 extracted, 2 hedged)

Palantir’s Chief Technology Officer Shyam Sankar revealed in a recent interview with CBS that AI workers are bizarrely taking up smoking to prove how much they trust in the tech to save them from the hazards of lighting up. asserted
they → reveal → hazards
“So many AI researchers have started smoking as a way of signaling to other researchers how much they believe in AI,” Sankar stated, leading the interviewer to respond that it “makes no sense.” asserted
it → start → sense
“’I believe so much in AI that it’s going to cure cancer. asserted
it → believe → cancer
So I’m showing you my chips are all in,'” he explained, calling it a form of “mass psychosis” and “social delusion.” asserted
he → show → psychosis
The tech exec claimed people have a “God-shaped hole” in their hearts, and for Silicon Valley workers, AI has become that “God.” asserted
AI → claim → workers
The odd remarks come amid fierce debate over the future of the technology after an employee at AI giant Anthropic recently made stark warnings that AI could kill all humans, sparking industrywide chaos. uncertain
AI → come → chaos
“There is a substantial probability that this technology could kill everyone,” Jacob Coxon told NBC News after resigning from the AI giant last month. uncertain
Coxon → be → giant
“This isn’t hyperbole,” he said. asserted
he → say → ?
“It’s not a marketing stunt.” asserted
It → ’ → ?
Coxon’s comments have spurred a number of AI figureheads to call for a slowing of AI’s development, though the federal Trump administration has dismissed the worries as a “hoax.” asserted
administration → spur → hoax
Much of the administration’s views of AI have been influenced by the other side of the debate, so-called “effective accelerationism,” a philosophy surrounding AI that believes the technology has so much benefit for humanity that any slowing of it will do harm. asserted
slowing → influence → harm
That includes the technology’s benefits for health care, with researchers beginning to use AI to help prescribe mental health drugs, give medical advice or even potentially cure cancer. asserted
researchers → include → cancer
In August, Moderna and Merck announced a “landmark moment” in the testing of a vaccine for melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer. asserted
Moderna → announce → cancer
The trial took place on 1,100 patients and was only possible thanks to AI, which analyzed a piece of each patient’s tumor to create a highly personalized version of the vaccine. asserted
which → take → vaccine
AI’s advantage comes in its ability to analyze vast sums of data — decades of opinions, case studies, research and testing results. asserted
advantage → come → opinions
“It allows us to consider the possibilities across all drugs and all diseases,” explained Dr. David Fajgenbaum, who co-founded an AI driven non-profit called Every Cure as well as Castleman Disease Collaborative Network. asserted
who → allow → non
“We utilize the world’s knowledge, rather than relying only on what is in our brains.” Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters asserted
what → utilize → newsletters
💬Give feedback
🕘History 🎫Support