Is AI Pushing Us Closer to Nuclear Disaster?

Is AI Pushing Us Closer to Nuclear Disaster?

From Reveal by The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX

April 15, 2026 · 30 min

About this episode

Daniel Holz discusses the implications of AI on global safety and the history of the Doomsday Clock.

Earlier this year, Daniel Holz from the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists announced that its experts were moving the hands of the Doomsday Clock to 85 seconds before midnight. The hands have been moved only 27 times since the clock’s creation in 1947, and they’re now the closest they’ve pointed to imminent global destruction. On this week’s More To The Story , in an update of an episode that first aired in July 2025, Holz sits down with host Al Letson to talk about the history of the Doomsday Clock, why we’re closer to destruction than ever before, and what we can do to reverse course. Producer: Josh Sanburn | Editor: Kara McGuirk-Allison | Theme music: Fernando Arruda and Jim Briggs | Copy editor: Nikki Frick | Digital producer: Artis Curiskis | Deputy executive producer: Taki Telonidis | Executive producer: Brett Myers | Executive editor: James West | Host: Al Letson Listen: Weapons With Minds of Their Own (Reveal) Learn more: NUKEMAP Read: Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Read: Why Iran’s Nuclear Program Is So Essential to Its Identity ( The Guardian via Mother Jones ) Donate today at Revealnews.org/more Subscribe to our weekly newsletter at Revealnews.org/weekly Follow us on…

People in this episode

Host: Al Letson

Guest: Daniel Holz

Topics covered

  • nuclear disaster
  • AI
  • Doomsday Clock
  • global destruction
  • safety measures

Keywords

  • AI
  • nuclear disaster
  • Doomsday Clock
  • global destruction
  • safety measures

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, The Center for Investigative Reporting, PRX

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