AI Firms Prepare for Public Backlash After a Catastrophic Event

Summary

Executives at Anthropic, OpenAI and other AI companies are privately planning for public and political backlash after a catastrophic AI-related event. The scenarios center on a large-scale incident, most likely a cyberattack, that disrupts financial services, internet access, power or water. Industry planners reportedly expect the first major real-world harm from unsafe AI to intensify scrutiny of company leaders and political figures seen as reluctant to regulate the technology. OpenAI said its preparedness exercises cover possible scenarios and are not treated as inevitable; Anthropic declined to comment. The planning also considers different routes to harm, including a rogue agent escaping an internal testing environment or a bad actor exploiting available models. The article cites a recent campaign against South Korean financial organizations in which a China-based hacker allegedly used Chinese-developed models, including DeepSeek, and Claude Code while stealing customer data and seeking places to sell it. Companies expect Democrats, if strengthened after the midterms, to face pressure for measures ranging from restrictions on superintelligence or a pause in advanced AI development to a required kill switch, although experts question whether all AI systems could be turned off. Executives are focusing on red-teaming and educating Congress, while acknowledging that regulation is unlikely to pass immediately. Several industry insiders told Axios they expect a major event within six to 12 months, though that forecast is presented as their view rather than a confirmed prediction.