--- title: "Cathie Wood Backs AI Slowdown but Calls Extinction Fears ‘Ridiculous:’ What Do Prediction Markets Say?" type: "News" locale: "en" url: "https://longbridge.com/en/news/299061603.md" description: "Cathie Wood labeled AI extinction fears 'ridiculous' but supported industry efforts to slow AI development for safety. She predicted President Trump would block new federal AI regulations, a view reflected by Polymarket traders assigning only a 19% chance of such laws passing before 2027. While the slowdown announcement initially pressured chip stocks like Nvidia, Wood argued that heightened security concerns could ultimately increase demand for advanced AI models." datetime: "2026-09-15T13:41:31.000Z" locales: - [zh-CN](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/299061603.md) - [en](https://longbridge.com/en/news/299061603.md) - [zh-HK](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/299061603.md) generator: "portal-rs" --- # Cathie Wood Backs AI Slowdown but Calls Extinction Fears ‘Ridiculous:’ What Do Prediction Markets Say? ARK Invest founder **Cathie Wood** called warnings that artificial intelligence could wipe out humanity “ridiculous,” while welcoming the industry’s push to slow advances at the AI frontier so safety measures can catch up. Wood also expects President **Donald Trump** to block new federal rules. Polymarket traders currently give a qualifying U.S. AI safety law just a 19% chance of being enacted before 2027, on about $114,000 in trading. ### Wood Welcomes AI Safety Push Wood called the industry’s slowdown pledge a “positive step.” Drawing on her experience investing through the tech and telecom bubble, she said she welcomed industry leaders publicly confronting AI’s risks. “Half of the solution is understanding the problem,” Wood told Reuters. But she rejected Anthropic researcher **Evan Hubinger’s** estimate that there is a greater than 10% chance AI wipes out humanity within the next decade. “That’s ridiculous,” Wood said, without elaborating on the extinction estimate itself. She instead argued that AI safety fears could sharpen the industry’s focus on cybersecurity. ### AI Slowdown Hits Chip Stocks Anthropic CEO **Dario Amodei** called over the weekend for frontier labs to slow the rate of capability gains, warning that safety testing may struggle to keep pace. OpenAI CEO **Sam Altman** and **Tesla Inc.** (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO **Elon Musk** backed the push. The warnings hit chip stocks Monday. **Nvidia Corp.** (NASDAQ:NVDA) fell 3.4%, while the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index dropped 5.9%. **CrowdStrike Holdings Inc.** (NASDAQ:CRWD), meanwhile, jumped 13.8%. Wood argues the safety scare could actually increase AI demand because companies may need advanced models to find and repair software vulnerabilities. “So it is actually increasing the demand for the models. I think the publicity has been good,” Wood told Forbes Australia. ARK’s venture fund holds stakes in both OpenAI and Anthropic. ### Trump and Traders Doubt New Rules “We don’t have to worry until ’29 \[because\] Trump will veto everything in the meantime,” Wood said. “He understands our biggest competitor, China, is not going to slow down.” Senate leaders including **John Thune** (R-SC), **Ted Cruz** (R-TX) and **Amy Klobuchar** (D-MN) are discussing a “duty of care” regime for frontier AI developers, Reuters reported. The proposal could let the Commerce Department demand proof of safety precautions, test models through government auditors and potentially seek to block the release of models deemed unsafe. Trump called warnings that AI could destroy humanity "a HOAX" and part of a broader set of "HOAXES and SCAMS," while arguing that China would not slow its own AI development. He said AI "will not be stopped" during his presidency. Prediction traders became more optimistic last week. The odds jumped from 11% to 20% after OpenAI called for mandatory national AI safety rules, but traders still see passage as unlikely before the end of the year. *Image: Shutterstock* **Read Also: Musk Biographer Says AI Giants May Face Liability After Admitting Risks as Nvidia, AMD Slide** ### Related Stocks - [NVDA.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/NVDA.US.md) - [NVDD.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/NVDD.US.md) - [NVDQ.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/NVDQ.US.md) - [NVD.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/NVD.US.md) - [NVDS.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/NVDS.US.md) - [NVDU.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/NVDU.US.md) - [NVDB.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/NVDB.US.md) - [NVDG.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/NVDG.US.md) - [NVDL.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/NVDL.US.md) - [NVDO.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/NVDO.US.md) - [NVDW.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/NVDW.US.md) - [NVDY.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/NVDY.US.md) - [NVYY.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/NVYY.US.md) - [NYYY.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/NYYY.US.md) - [NVDX.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/NVDX.US.md) - [DIPS.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/DIPS.US.md) - [MAGX.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/MAGX.US.md) - [SMH.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/SMH.US.md) - [SOXX.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/SOXX.US.md) - [SOXL.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/SOXL.US.md) - [SOXQ.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/SOXQ.US.md) - [XSD.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/XSD.US.md) - [PSI.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/PSI.US.md) - [FTXL.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/FTXL.US.md) - [07388.HK](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/07388.HK.md) - [07788.HK](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/07788.HK.md) - [09388.HK](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/09388.HK.md) - [OpenAI.NA](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/OpenAI.NA.md) - [TSLA.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/TSLA.US.md) - [CRWD.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/CRWD.US.md) - [AMD.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/AMD.US.md) - [NVD.DE](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/NVD.DE.md) ## Related News & Research - [Jensen Huang Says Hyperscalers Get This ‘Almost Always Wrong’ — Nvidia Has a Workaround](https://longbridge.com/en/news/299073573.md) - [Nvidia's Customer Concentration Problem: CFO Says 'We Get Paid Twice'](https://longbridge.com/en/news/298946887.md) - [Nvidia and Micron: AI Slowdown Will Punish One AI Stock More Than the Other, Says Investor](https://longbridge.com/en/news/299052127.md) - [Huang rejects 'circular financing' label for NVIDIA's AI bets](https://longbridge.com/en/news/298649945.md) - [HP Partners With Red Hat For AI Workloads; Shares Up](https://longbridge.com/en/news/298497953.md) --- > **Disclaimer: This article is for reference only and does not constitute any investment advice.**