AI extinction fears double as 'doom marketing,' but the real threat is unaccountable corporations with concentrated compute — liability law and transparency are the lever.

Jacob Coxon's resignation from Anthropic reignited mainstream x-risk coverage, but the author argues AI extinction narratives function partly as 'doom marketing' that inflates valuations and obscures present harms. The concrete threat is corporations with massive compute operating without accountability — enabling autonomous kill lists, felony hacks, and mass job replacement. Proposed remedies: AI liability laws (Illinois passed one), mandatory model transparency, and public control over AI development, rather than a blanket pause that would entrench incumbents.