What people at SF's largest tech conference are actually worried about (Hint: Not an AI takeover)

Attendees arrive at Salesforce's Dreamforce conference in San Francisco on September 15, 2026. Benjamin Fanjoy/Getty Images Fears about AI's catastrophic risks exploded into the mainstream online this week. On the ground at the Dreamforce 2026 conference, attendees weren't at all concerned. People have other worries about AI beyond the hypothetical of existential danger. I decided to hit the pavement at Salesforce's gigantic Dreamforce conference to ask tech-minded people about AI's catastrophic risk. Turns out, it's not all AI gloom and doom — that's only if you're looking online. Last week, Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon announced he was resigning from the company, saying that AI labs are "gambling with our lives." Debates about an AI-led apocalypse proliferated across the internet, and the leaders of Anthropic and OpenAI posted at length about new safety measures.