Hope or horror? The great AI debate dividing its pioneers

CEO of DeepMind is not a pessimist' but warns of threat from AI and says we must be active in shaping a middle way'

• AI risk must be treated as seriously as climate crisis, says Google DeepMind chief

Demis Hassabis says he is not in the pessimistic" camp about artificial intelligence. But that did not stop the CEO of Google DeepMind signing a statement in May warning that the threat of extinction from AI should be treated as a societal risk comparable to pandemics or nuclear weapons.

That uneasy gap between hope and horror, and the desire to bridge it, is a key reason why Rishi Sunak convened next week's global AI safety summit in Bletchley Park, a symbolic choice as the base of the visionary codebreakers - including computing pioneer Alan Turing - who deciphered German communications during the second world war.