Hinton: ‘we’re creating alien beings’; attacks Trump’s AI rebrand and self-regulation
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- 14 October 2026
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Key facts
- Source: Guardian interview by Leyland Cecco, Oct 13, 2026 (Guardian blocks automated access; quotes from HuffPost UK and Mediaite, which quote it)
- On the rebrand: ‘He’s taken a technical term which has a very clear meaning and then reused it’; ‘Superintelligence means smarter than people, and has been around for at least 20 years’; ‘You can’t make it smarter than people just by calling it smarter than people’
- On self-regulation: ‘I’m sure the oil and asbestos companies would have liked to’ regulate themselves; ‘Do we think tobacco companies should have been allowed to design the warnings on the packets?’
- On risk: ‘If, for example, you’re told there was a 10% possibility of a bus crashing, you wouldn’t get on the bus … We don’t know how serious, but it’s serious’
- On AI as beings: ‘Now we’re creating alien beings – meaning we’re not the only intelligent beings around. And the reality is, we only have a couple of years to adapt to that.’ Citing Anthropic’s reported meetings with religious scholars on AI consciousness: ‘Once you start talking about, “We have a moral obligation towards these alien beings,” you lose your audience’ (headline: ‘I’m willing to be selfish and choose humans’)
- He also called Trump ‘a corrupt, senile felon’ (Mediaite headline), and agreed with Dario Amodei that AI development must slow down (Mediaite’s paraphrase)
What happened
Hinton gave the Guardian a wide-ranging interview timed with the scientists’ open letter on AI containment. Coverage focused on his attack on Trump (HuffPost UK, International Business Times UK, Mediaite) and on the “alien beings” framing.
Why it matters
The best-known AI-risk scientist is now openly attacking the US administration’s renaming of AI and its voluntary approach to lab oversight. He also takes a side in the AI-consciousness debate that Anthropic’s outreach to religious leaders started: even if AIs are beings, humans should come first.
Sources
3 sources from 3 sites. Numbers match the chips in the text.
3 sources: 3 press
Press
- The Guardian: AI godfather Geoffrey Hinton: ‘We’re creating alien beings. I’m willing to be selfish and choose humans’ (Oct 13)theguardian.com, press
- HuffPost UK: ‘Godfather of AI’ Geoffrey Hinton slams Trump for allowing companies to regulate themselveshuffingtonpost.co.uk, press
- Mediaite: ‘Godfather of AI’ shreds Trump in new interview as ‘corrupt, senile felon’mediaite.com, press
Changes
- Filed (Google News: Guardian, HuffPost UK, IBT UK)