Noah Smith

AI position

Aware of x-risk

He wrote a dedicated post ('My thoughts on AI safety', Dec 2025) directly addressing Yudkowsky/Soares' 'If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies' and did a full debate on p(doom) with Liron Shapira's Doom Debates, but concludes he is not deeply worried and argues against 'paralysis through fear' (https://www.noahpinion.blog/p/my-thoughts-on-ai-safety).

Why influential

Owns a direct subscriber relationship and can repeatedly shape a high-value niche without depending on a traditional newsroom's front page. Primary policy lanes: economics; industrial policy; technology; foreign policy.

Who pays attention

Technology workers, economists, industrial-policy advocates, Democratic staff, founders and internationalists

Work samples

• My thoughts on AI safety

  Dec 15, 2025 · article

  Personal reflection engaging with Yudkowsky/Soares' 'If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies' and explaining why he isn't deeply fearful of AI x-risk.

• AI's big messaging pivot

  May 5, 2026 · article

  Analyzes the shift in lab-CEO messaging on AI and jobs, extensively quoting Sam Altman and contrasting him with Dario Amodei's 'obsolescence' framing.

• Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei on AI's Moat, Risk, and SB 1047

  Aug 29, 2024 · podcast

  Econ 102 episode with co-host Erik Torenberg interviewing Dario Amodei on AI economics, safety, and California's SB 1047.

• Noah Smith vs. Liron Shapira — Will AI spare our lives AND our jobs?

  Jan 5, 2026 · podcast

  Full debate on Doom Debates about AI existential risk and jobs; Smith gives detailed p(doom) estimates.

• If AI is a weapon, why don't we regulate it like one?

  Jan 1, 2025 · article

  Argues for treating powerful AI systems under weapons-style regulatory frameworks.

AI-world contacts

• Dario Amodei — Co-founder & CEO, Anthropic

  • Wrote aboutdirectness unclassified · May 5, 2026 — Contrasts Amodei's 'human obsolescence' messaging with Altman's newer optimism in a piece on AI industry PR shifts.
  • Hosted / interviewedsource · interview · Aug 29, 2024 — Hosted Amodei on Econ 102 to discuss AI's moat, risk, and SB 1047.

• Sam Altman — CEO, OpenAI

  • Quoted / citeddirectness unclassified · May 5, 2026 — Quotes Altman's statement that 'the purpose of AI is not to take people's jobs' and his criticism of 'tone-deaf' AI CEOs.
  • Social interactiondirectness unclassified · Jan 1, 2026 — X post arguing Altman and Amodei should stop claiming their product will make humanity obsolete.

• Eliezer Yudkowsky — Co-founder, MIRI

  • Wrote aboutdirectness unclassified · Dec 15, 2025 — Substantively engages with Yudkowsky and Nate Soares' book 'If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies' in a personal AI-safety reflection post.

• Liron Shapira — AI x-risk podcast host / debater, Doom Debates

  • Wrote aboutdirectness unclassified — Hosted Noah Smith twice on his 'Doom Debates' show/Substack for extended p(doom) debates in Dec 2025/Jan 2026, a recurring and substantive AI-safety touchpoint.

• Erik Torenberg — Podcast co-host, Turpentine / Econ 102

  • Wrote aboutdirectness unclassified — Co-hosts Econ 102 with Noah Smith, including the Dario Amodei interview and other AI-policy discussions; not an AI-lab or safety figure himself but the recurring co-host for these touchpoints.