--- title: "Former Google CEO Warns That AI Is About to Escape Human Control" description: "Artificial intelligence keeps getting smarter — and soon, warns former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, it won't take orders from us anymore." date: "2025-04-19" modified: "2025-04-19" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/former-google-ceo-ai-escape-humans" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "Google" tags: - "artificial intelligence" - "eric schmidt" - "Google" - "the digest" --- # Former Google CEO Warns That AI Is About to Escape Human Control ![Artificial intelligence keeps getting smarter — and soon, warns former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, it won't take orders from us anymore.]() *\Image: John Lamparski via Getty / Futurism\* ## Jail Breaker Artificial intelligence keeps getting smarter — and soon, warns former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, it won't take orders from us anymore. During a [talk at a recent summit]() co-hosted by Schmidt's think tank, the [Special Competitive Studies Project](), the former Google head predicted that within "three to five years," researchers will crack the case on so-called artificial general intelligence, or human-level AI. After that, Schmidt suggested, all bets are off. Once AI begins to self-improve and learn how to plan, the tech policy mogul said, it essentially won't "have to listen to us anymore." At that stage, he continued, AI will not only be smarter than humans, but will also reach what is known as artificial superintelligence (ASI), which occurs when AI becomes smarter than *all* humans put together. Per the "San Francisco consensus," a joking term Schmidt said he uses to refer to things that are only believed by people who live in the city by the bay, ASI will occur "within six years, just based on scaling." If that sounds incomprehensible, you're not alone. "This path is not understood in our society," Schmidt said. "There's no language for what happens with the arrival of this... that's why it's under-hyped." ## Doom and Gloom Unlike the [AI doomer]() cohort, who not only believe that ASI is rapidly approaching but are also bent on stopping it, the ex-Google CEO seemed very stoic when discussing the potential arrival of AI that is smarter than organic humans could ever be. "People do not understand what happens when you have intelligence at this level, which is largely free," Schmidt claimed. (That conceit, it's worth noting, doesn't make necessarily hold up. Whoever reaches AGI first will guard it so strongly, Fort Knox will look like a garden gate — and until and unless an ASI frees itself from the shackles of human control entirely *and* decides to make itself beneficial to humans, it will not be some sort of utopian virtual assistant.) As Schmidt jokingly referenced, the six-year ASI timeline could well be a Silicon Valley mirage. Still, it's freaky to imagine AI not only reaching human-level intelligence but surpassing it anytime soon — and to hear it discussed so beatifically. **More on Schmidt predictions:** [*Former Google CEO Tells Congress That 99 Percent of All Electricity Will Be Used to Power Superintelligent AI*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()