Claim · 2023-06-06 · publication · Stated in source · Supported

Andreessen's essay of 6 June 2023 argues that the idea that AI will decide to kill humanity is a category error, because AI is code built, owned and controlled by people and has no goals or wants of its own.

One recorded claim. The claim panel gives its qualification, the source passages with their place in each source, and how it was checked.

What it connects

Why AI Will Save the World → contests → Existential risk from misalignment or loss of control

Where it appears

Arguments about catastrophic risk from advanced AI →

Claim and evidence

Why AI Will Save the Worldcontests ↓Existential risk from misalignment or loss of control

Machine-checked, not reviewed by an editorStated in sourceSupported

Supporting evidence: primary · 1 source

Date: 2023-06-06 · publication Records dated 2023 →
Role: Contesting
Register (kind of text): Nonfiction
Engagement: Engages a premise. Disputes the premise that AI systems have goals of their own that could conflict with human control.

Scope and limitsThe essay addresses AI that would "decide" to kill humanity; it does not discuss goals acquired through training.

The evidence 02

primary sourceSupports the claim

Why AI Will Save the World

Andreessen Horowitz (a16z.com) · 2023-06-06

Cite the original source

Cite the original document, not Selekoa. Check these details against it.

Source excerpt

“My view is that the idea that AI will decide to literally kill humanity is a profound category error.”

Location in source Section "AI Risk #1: Will AI Kill Us All?"

How it was read Retrieved directly from the publisher

Machine-checked · 2026-10-31

Source details and check notes

Authors: Marc Andreessen
Version: Retrieved for the candidate pack on 2026-10-29 (SHA-256 d5fd50d9724672f868bbc78e06f7b5e7fcdc899c3d6c6d8bd4484281ad10472e). Current web page, which reads "Posted June 6, 2023"; no revision note in the retrieved text; later edits not checked. The cross-family check retrieved it again on 2026-10-31, with the same bytes.
Canonical address: Open the canonical source ↗
Accessed: 2026-10-29
Language: English (en)
Attribution: Marc Andreessen, “Why AI Will Save the World”, 2023-06-06.
Reuse: No open redistribution licence asserted. Bibliographic metadata, editorial paraphrases and short attributed quotations (at most 50 words each). Recheck terms before wider redistribution.
Check notes: Candidate pack passage, arguments about catastrophic risk from advanced AI (research/risk-debate). The quotation (19 words) matched the text retrieved for the candidate pack on 2026-10-29. Matching ignored differences of whitespace, case, quotation marks, dashes and Unicode compatibility forms, so the source’s typography can differ. A cross-family machine check (2026-10-31, item 116) re-read the record’s source and found the quotation and stance supported. No human editorial review.

primary sourceSupports the claim

Why AI Will Save the World

Andreessen Horowitz (a16z.com) · 2023-06-06

Cite the original source

Cite the original document, not Selekoa. Check these details against it.

Source excerpt

“In short, AI doesn’t want, it doesn’t have goals, it doesn’t want to kill you, because it’s not alive.”

Location in source Same section

How it was read Retrieved directly from the publisher

Machine-checked · 2026-10-31

Source details and check notes

Authors: Marc Andreessen
Version: Retrieved for the candidate pack on 2026-10-29 (SHA-256 d5fd50d9724672f868bbc78e06f7b5e7fcdc899c3d6c6d8bd4484281ad10472e). Current web page, which reads "Posted June 6, 2023"; no revision note in the retrieved text; later edits not checked. The cross-family check retrieved it again on 2026-10-31, with the same bytes.
Canonical address: Open the canonical source ↗
Accessed: 2026-10-29
Language: English (en)
Attribution: Marc Andreessen, “Why AI Will Save the World”, 2023-06-06.
Reuse: No open redistribution licence asserted. Bibliographic metadata, editorial paraphrases and short attributed quotations (at most 50 words each). Recheck terms before wider redistribution.
Check notes: Candidate pack passage, arguments about catastrophic risk from advanced AI (research/risk-debate). The quotation (19 words) matched the text retrieved for the candidate pack on 2026-10-29. Matching ignored differences of whitespace, case, quotation marks, dashes and Unicode compatibility forms, so the source’s typography can differ. A cross-family machine check (2026-10-31, item 116) re-read the record’s source and found the quotation and stance supported. No human editorial review.

Status and meaning

Editorial status. Not reviewed by an editor. An exploratory record that no editor has accepted. This status does not say whether a person has read any linked passage. Each evidence record above shows how it was checked.

Relation. A passage of the document disputes the proposition or a premise it depends on. The record documents the text’s position, not who is right.

Date. Date of posting.

Record ID rd-r08-andreessen-2023-ai-will-save-the-world