Yann LeCun

Deep-learning pioneer; 2018 Turing Award; former Meta Chief AI Scientist; founder of AMI Labs (world models)

AMI Labs / New York University (formerly Meta)

Skeptics

LeCun is one of the three 'godfathers' of deep learning and the most prominent scientist who thinks the extinction debate is misguided. He argues today's chatbots are nowhere near human intelligence, that a sudden AI takeover is 'preposterous', and that open-source development is safer than concentrating power in a few labs. He puts the odds of doom below an asteroid strike—while saying such numbers are meaningless anyway.

Their number

0–1%

Has said his p(doom) is "less than 1%" and "below the chances of an asteroid hitting the earth" (X, December 2023). On April 13, 2026 he wrote on X that "the existential risk is essentially zero"; on April 21, 2026 he clarified: "I didn't say p(doom) was zero. I said: 1. All estimates are pulled out of thin air 2. It makes little sense to attribute a probability to an event on which we have agency."
Source

On timing

"There's literally hundreds of billions invested in an industry that basically is counting on the fact that LLMs [are] going to reach human-level intelligence. It's complete BS." / "At the very best, we might be convinced that we're on a good path towards human intelligence — but not yet at human intelligence — within five years." (Brown University lecture, April 1, 2026)

Source

What they call for

  • Open source AI models
  • No premature regulation of research and development
  • World model research beyond LLMs
  • Reject 'hard takeoff' scenarios

In their own words

  • "I think a lot of the fears around AI are predicated on the idea that somehow there is a hard takeoff... it's going to take over the world within minutes. This is preposterous." (Munk Debate, Toronto)

    22 June 2023

    Source

  • Left Meta and raised over $1 billion for AMI Labs to build 'world models' as an alternative path to LLMs; "it's almost certainly much harder than we think."

    1 April 2026

    Source

  • "It makes little sense to attribute a probability to an event on which we have agency. If you do so, it's more of a statement about our collective ability to do the right thing."

    21 April 2026

    Source

  • "the existential risk is essentially zero"

    13 April 2026

    Source

Last verified 1 September 2026

Report a correction

Back to all voices