Does Karen Hao think AI companies are gaslighting the public?

Yes. Asked directly by Steven Bartlett, Karen Hao agreed that AI companies are gaslighting the public. She argues that because the industry employs and funds most of the world's AI researchers, it steers which research gets done and can suppress findings it dislikes, and she compares this to climate science funded by fossil fuel companies.

• Hao cites Google firing Timnit Gebru, co-lead of its ethical AI team, and then Margaret Mitchell, over a paper critical of large language models.
• Hao says the companies tell the public and policymakers that critics simply do not understand the technology.

▸In their words

“If most of the climate scientists in the world were bankrolled by fossil fuel companies, do you think we would get an accurate picture” Karen Hao · at 10:25 — open in the transcript →

Source: our own transcription of the episode. The full conversation is on The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett (2026-10-23). Read the whole episode summary →

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