Palantir CTO Cites Smoking Habit Among Some AI Researchers to Signal Faith in AI Cancer Cure

Palantir CTO Shyam Sankar said in a recent CBS interview that many AI researchers have taken up smoking as a way to demonstrate their confidence in AI’s ability to cure cancer. He offered no supporting data and used the segment to criticize the effective‑altruism movement, describing it as a “millenarian doomsday cult.”

“So many AI researchers have started smoking as a way of signaling to other researchers how much they believe in AI,” Sankar said on “Face the Nation.” “I believe so much in AI that it’s going to cure cancer. So I’m showing you my chips are all in.” He did not name any specific researchers, provide a survey, or explain how he obtained this information.

Sankar referenced FTX founder Sam Bankman‑Fried as a well‑known figure associated with effective altruism and suggested that some researchers are filling a “god‑shaped hole” with a machine‑intelligence deity.

Public health data contradicts the notion that smoking is a harmless symbolic act. The CDC reports that smoking causes roughly one in three cancer deaths in the United States and that cigarette smoke contains at least 69 known carcinogens. Smokers face about 25 times the risk of lung cancer compared with non‑smokers, and quitting reduces the risk of 12 cancer types.

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei weighed in on the narrative, noting that promising AI to cure cancer has become “more a cliché than it is inspiring.” He emphasized that only actual cures will earn public trust. “I do not agree that my messaging has been disproportionately negative. In fact it has been about equally balanced between risks and benefits,” Amodei posted on X (formerly Twitter) in August.

The CBS poll cited by Brennan showed limited public confidence: 50 % of respondents believe AI will create more problems than it solves, 29 % think it will solve more than it creates, and 21 % are unsure. Around 45 % favor government restrictions on AI development.

Industry observers note that symbolic gestures like smoking are unlikely to improve public sentiment. “When you’re smoking, you’re networking by accident,” said Revamp AI co‑founder Stephen Campbell in a recent Business Insider interview.

Meanwhile, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva warns that AI could affect up to 40 % of jobs, and many insiders anticipate a major AI incident within the next year. An unintended surge in smoking‑related illnesses would be an unexpected side effect.

2/2 Second, on the messaging around AI.  I do not agree that my messaging has been disproportionately negative.  In fact it has been about equally balanced between risks and benefits: I’ve written one major essay about each, and even in interviews where I discuss the risks, I…

— Dario Amodei (@DarioAmodei) August 15, 2026

Palantir, which sells data‑analysis software to government and military clients, relies heavily on AI technologies for its products.

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