--- title: "Former Google Exec Warns of Global AI Catastrophe Within Two Years" description: "Former top Google exec Mo Gawdet says that AI is \"beyond an emergency\" and is \"bigger than climate change, believe it or not.\"" date: "2023-06-02" modified: "2023-06-02" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/google-exec-ai-global-catastrophe" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "Google" tags: - "advanced ai" - "ai" - "Google" - "the digest" --- # Former Google Exec Warns of Global AI Catastrophe Within Two Years ![Former top Google exec Mo Gawdet says that AI is "beyond an emergency" and is "bigger than climate change, believe it or not."]() *Hacker surfing inside deep web \Image: Getty Images\* ## Beyond an Emergency Former top Google exec Mo Gawdet, who once led the Silicon Valley behemoth's Google X "moonshot" division, is very stressed about AI. "It is beyond an emergency," [Gawdat said in a new interview]() on a podcast called "The Diary of a CEO," hosted by Stephen Bartlett. "It's the biggest thing we need to do today. It's bigger than climate change, believe it or not." "The likelihood of something incredibly disruptive happening within the next two years that can affect the entire planet," he added, "is definitely larger with AI than it is with climate change." For context's sake, we would like to point out that devastating side effects of climate change — [fires](), [floods](), [droughts](), [worsened storms](), [astronomically high temps]() — are already disrupting places and civilizations around the world. But we do get the guy's point. By Gawdet's prediction, AI is bound to have devastating impacts on human society — and those negatives are just around the corner. ## Doomer Guy As far as his more specific concerns go — as opposed to your average vague, generalized [AI anxiety]() — Gawdat told Bartlett that his pressing near-term worries include, among other potential crises, cybercrime-abetting tools like deepfakes and automation-driven mass job loss. But honestly, those are all small beans compared to some of the former Googler's recent claims. Recently, on a different podcast called "Secret Leaders," [Gawdat said that]() the probability that AI would come to think of humans as "scum" is "very high," additionally claiming that AI might also create its own "killing machines." So, uh, safe to say that Gawdat is *definitely* an AI doomer. ## Tax 'Em, Baby But for all of his fear, Gawdat, who's very much in favor of government regulation of the tech, does have a proposed mitigation idea: just tax the living daylights out of 'em. "I have a very clear call for action for governments," Gawdat said in the "Diary of a CEO" interview. "I'm saying tax AI-powered businesses at 98 percent so suddenly you do what the open letter was trying to do, slow them down a little bit, and at the same time get enough money to pay for all of those people that will be disrupted by the technology." Definitely on the extreme side of taxation, but gotta start the negotiations somewhere, we guess. Look, Gawdat's grim warnings should be taken with a grain of salt. But that said, it's true that the unpredictable tech *is* progressing incredibly quickly — and no one, [not even the folks building it](), *really* know what's lurking underneath sleek AI interfaces. **More on AI fears:** [*OpenAI CEO Signs Letter Warning AI Could Cause Human "Extinction"*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()