Cerebras CEO pushes back on AI doomsday warnings
Cerebras CEO Andrew Feldman has a message for AI leaders spreading doomsday warnings: Maybe stop talking? At TechCrunch Disrupt, he argued that the industry's focus on AI's risks is drowning out its potential benefits.
Key points
- Cerebras CEO Andrew Feldman criticized AI doomsday warnings at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026.
- Feldman said AI leaders should highlight benefits like grandchildren never meeting anyone who dies of cancer.
- He said the data center industry failed to engage local communities in the U.S.
Cerebras Systems CEO and co-founder Andrew Feldman pushed back on AI doomsday warnings during an interview at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026. He said the negative discourse around AI risks is overshadowing the technology's potential benefits.
Feldman joked that some AI leaders "maybe shouldn't be allowed to talk in public," according to the article. He pointed to growing debates among AI insiders about the chances AI could kill all of humanity by the end of the decade, a theme recently parodied on Saturday Night Live.
What Feldman said
Feldman argued that AI leaders should spend more time describing positive outcomes, such as a world where your grandkids will never meet anybody who dies of cancer. He acknowledged his company has a stake in AI's success, noting Cerebras customers include OpenAI, Block, Figma, GSK and Lovable.
He said powerful technologies inevitably raise the question of what happens when they fall into the hands of bad people. Feldman added that the technology is powerful, requires thoughtfulness and should be regulated reasonably.
I think what we have to say is that this technology is powerful. We have to be thoughtful about it. We have to regulate it reasonably.
— Andrew Feldman
Data centers and communities
Feldman attributed some of the negativity around AI to how the data center industry has handled new builds driven by AI demand. He said the industry was not good at working with local communities, particularly in the U.S., unlike the power, oil and gas industries.
He contrasted U.S. NIMBY-ism with countries he named as encouraging data center construction: Brazil, Canada, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Mexico and Sweden. Feldman also said efficiency gains would not reduce demand for Cerebras chips or those of Nvidia competitors.
