OpenAI and Anthropic Are Quietly Rehearsing for the Day After an AI Catastrophe

Top executives at Anthropic, OpenAI, and other AI companies are privately rehearsing how to handle the public and political backlash after a catastrophic AI event, according to an Axios report published Friday. The scenario they fear most is a large cyberattack—a digital break-in at massive scale—that shuts down banking or internet access, or even power and water. Many industry insiders quoted in the report believe a major incident will happen within the next six to 12 months. The first serious real-world harm from unsafe AI would push an already wary public further against the technology and its leaders.