David Remnick

AI position

Aware of x-risk

No stable, attributable and sufficiently current personal AI-policy stance was located.

His show has hosted multiple guests (Bengio, Hinton) discussing existential/alignment risk at length and taking it seriously, but Remnick himself has not staked out a personal position on x-risk; per the seed roster he has "no clear personal stance."

Sheet category (Jul 12, 2026 snapshot): No clear personal stance

Absence of a located position is not evidence of neutrality or disinterest.

Why influential

Controls commissioning, placement, talent, headlines or institutional resources, making this person a gatekeeper for what receives sustained attention. Primary policy lanes: national politics; culture; foreign affairs; investigations.

Who pays attention

Editors, writers, academics, Democratic policymakers, cultural institutions, donors and internationally minded professionals

Work samplesunvetted

• Sam Altman's Trust Issues at OpenAI

  Apr 10, 2026 · podcast

  Remnick hosts New Yorker reporters Ronan Farrow and Andrew Marantz on their investigation into Sam Altman's leadership, safety rhetoric, and OpenAI's Pentagon deal.

• The Creator of ChatGPT on the Rise of Artificial Intelligence

  Jun 2, 2023 · podcast

  Remnick interviews Sam Altman on ChatGPT, AGI, job displacement, and the need for AI regulation.

• Geoffrey Hinton: "It's Far Too Late" to Stop Artificial Intelligence

  Nov 17, 2023 · podcast

  Segment on Remnick's show (interview conducted by colleague Joshua Rothman) with Hinton on existential risk and the alignment problem.

• The A.I. Pioneer Yoshua Bengio Sounds the Alarm: "Our Horizon for Risk Just Got Much Shorter"

  Jun 2, 2023 · podcast

  Remnick interviews Bengio on AI risk to democracy, loss-of-control scenarios, and need for international governance.

AI-world contactsunvetted

• Sam Altman — CEO, OpenAI

  • Wrote aboutdirectness unclassified · Apr 10, 2026 — Remnick hosted Ronan Farrow and Andrew Marantz discussing their investigative New Yorker piece on Altman's trustworthiness and OpenAI's Pentagon deal.
  • Hosted / interviewedsource · interview · Jun 2, 2023 — Remnick interviewed Altman on the rise of ChatGPT, AGI, and AI safety/regulation.

• Geoffrey Hinton — Professor emeritus, Nobel laureate, University of Toronto

  • Hosted / interviewedsource · interview · Nov 17, 2023 — Segment aired on Remnick's New Yorker Radio Hour (interview conducted by colleague Joshua Rothman) on existential risk and the alignment problem.

• Yoshua Bengio — Professor, Turing laureate, Mila / UdeM

  • Hosted / interviewedsource · interview · Jun 2, 2023 — Remnick interviewed Bengio on shortened AI risk timelines, loss-of-control, and need for regulatory bodies.