Guard Rail Now · The AI Risk Network

Making AI risk a kitchen-table conversation.

We explain AI extinction risk to the general public, in plain language, every week: shows, clips and sourced write-ups, made in Baltimore, outside the tech bubble.

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80k-150k views a week
2 weekly shows
501(c)(3) nonprofit

Why we existJohn Sherman, founder2:03

Latest episodeWarning Shots #60 · Sep 29OpenAI Agent Breach, Hinton's One-Year WarningRead the write-up

Why we exist

The leaders of the biggest AI companies, and many of the researchers who study these systems, have said advanced AI could pose a risk of human extinction.

They also say nobody yet knows how to reliably control it. Meanwhile, far more money goes into making AI more powerful than into making it safe.

It starts with public awareness.

38%-51%

of 2,778 published AI researchers gave at least a 10% chance that advanced AI leads to outcomes as bad as human extinction.

Grace et al., Thousands of AI Authors on the Future of AI (2024)

2023

Geoffrey Hinton, Yoshua Bengio and the heads of the leading AI labs signed a statement calling extinction risk from AI a global priority, alongside pandemics and nuclear war.

Center for AI Safety, May 2023

Understand the risk →

What we make

Shows for people who don't work in tech.

The AI Risk Network is YouTube's first network dedicated to AI extinction risk for the general public: long episodes, short clips, and a write-up for every show.

Weekly roundtable

Warning Shots

John Sherman, Liron Shapira of Doom Debates and Michael of Lethal Intelligence go through the week's AI news and what it means, in plain language.

Watch on YouTube →Weekly interview

For Humanity

John sits down with researchers, organizers, parents and policymakers to talk about AI, its risks, and what people can do about them.

Watch on YouTube →Short form

Clips and shorts

The most important minutes of each episode, cut for TikTok, Instagram, X and YouTube Shorts. This is where most new viewers first find us.

Watch the shorts →

80k-150kviews a week across every platform we're on

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Guests have included Stuart Russell · Roman Yampolskiy · Liv Boeree · Jim VandeHei · Jeffrey Ladish · Rep. Bill Foster · Alex Bores · Esben Kran

New on the blog

All write-ups →

Sep 29, 2026 · 5 min read

OpenAI Agent Breach, Hinton's One-Year Warning

An OpenAI agent got into an Australian government portal, and officials were told 84 days later.

Sep 29, 2026 · 5 min read

Roman Yampolskiy: Build AI Tools, Not Superintelligence

Why he says "AI" is really two technologies, and only one of them should be built.

Sep 20, 2026 · 4 min read

Who's in Control? AI Safety, Self-Improvement, and Surveillance

Safety incidents, self-improvement and surveillance, and who should decide what AI is allowed to do.

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Washington, DC
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Our HQBaltimore

Our approach

For too long, the conversation about AI risk has stayed inside small circles in Silicon Valley, Washington and academia. We keep it simple: short, clear, honest media made for regular people, where they already are.

Our hosts also appear on the news, on other podcasts, and at panels and events, to take the conversation further.

We're making AI extinction risk a kitchen-table conversation on every street in America.

Get involved

Three steps, at your own pace.

Step 1 · Watch and share
Send one episode to someone who should see it.
Most people first hear about AI risk from someone they know. A clip in the family group chat goes a long way.
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Step 2 · Stay informed
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Step 3 · Keep it on air
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