Palantir CTO says some AI researchers are taking up smoking because they expect AI to cure cancer
Palantir CTO Shyam Sankar claims that some AI researchers are taking up smoking as a symbolic gesture of their extreme confidence in AI's future capabilities, including curing cancer. This trend reflects a broader subculture within the tech industry that prioritizes radical belief in technological progress over traditional health norms.
Why it matters
It highlights the intense, almost cult-like optimism present in some segments of the AI development community and the unconventional behaviors it can foster.
Palantir's CTO Shyam Sankar said taking up smoking has become a way for AI researchers to show how much they believe in AI. Tom Brenner/Bloomberg via Getty Images Some AI researchers are picking up cigarettes, Palantir's CTO said. Why? They think AI is going to cure cancer anyway, Shyam Sankar said. Lighting up is their way of showing others that their AI "chips are all in," he said. Forget sleepmaxxing and cold plunging: smoking is the new lifestyle flex among AI researchers. At least, that's according to Palantir CTO Shyam Sankar , who said some AI researchers are taking up smoking to signal their belief that AI will eventually cure cancer . "So many AI researchers have started smoking as a way of signaling to other researchers how much they believe in AI," Sankar said in an interview on CBS News' "Face the Nation" on Sunday.
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