AI companies have been talking about superintelligent AI like it’s inevitable, but recent safety incidents：https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/04/openais-rogue-agents-keep-escaping-with-no-formal-process-to-investigate-them/ like OpenAI’s Hugging Face breach：https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/26/openai-releases-its-official-report-on-the-hugging-face-breach/ are demonstrating the potential dangers of deploying AI systems that are more capable than humans. So what happens when we can’t reliably control what these systems do?

On this episode of TechCrunch’s Equity：https://techcrunch.com/podcasts/equity/ podcast, Rebecca Bellan is joined by Connor Leahy：https://www.linkedin.com/in/connor-j-leahy/, an AI researcher, entrepreneur, and now the U.S. Executive Director of nonprofit ControlAI：https://controlai.org/, which is pushing for a far more radical approach to AI safety: stopping companies from developing superintelligence altogether. Leahy explains why he thinks the risks have become too great to manage through alignment and containment alone, and how what sounded far-fetched six months ago is now being backed by a wave of new legislation.

Theresa Loconsolo
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Theresa Loconsolo is an audio producer at TechCrunch focusing on Equity, the network’s flagship podcast. Before joining TechCrunch in 2022, she was one of 2 producers at a four-station conglomerate where she wrote, recorded, voiced and edited content, and engineered live performances and interviews from guests like lovelytheband. Theresa is based in New Jersey and holds a bachelors degree in Communication from Monmouth University. You can contact or verify outreach from Theresa by emailing theresa.loconsolo@techcrunch.com：mailto:theresa.loconsolo@techcrunch.com. View Bio ：https://techcrunch.com/author/theresa-loconsolo/ October 13 – 15 San Francisco Don’t miss out . The startup community will gather to answer a pivotal question: How do you build sustainably in the AI era?

OpenAI fought dirty on career-making math problem, says NYU mathematician：https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/08/openai-fought-dirty-on-career-making-math-problem-says-nyu-mathematician/ Russell Brandom：https://techcrunch.com/author/russell-brandom/

A secret new Elizabeth Holmes documentary stuns Telluride：https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/07/a-secret-new-elizabeth-holmes-documentary-stuns-telluride/ Connie Loizos：https://techcrunch.com/author/connie-loizos/

TechCrunch Mobility: Tesla Cybercab hits the road — and a snag：https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/06/techcrunch-mobility-tesla-cybercab-hits-the-road-and-a-snag/ Kirsten Korosec：https://techcrunch.com/author/kirsten-korosec/

Hikers rescued after using Google Gemini for planning：https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/05/hikers-rescued-after-using-google-gemini-for-planning/ Anthony Ha：https://techcrunch.com/author/anthony-ha/

Feds launch investigation into Tesla’s Cybercab deployment：https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/04/feds-launch-investigation-into-teslas-cybercab-deployment/ Sean O'Kane：https://techcrunch.com/author/sean-okane/ Kirsten Korosec：https://techcrunch.com/author/kirsten-korosec/

Tesla is asking people if they want to buy and run Cybercab fleets：https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/03/tesla-is-asking-people-if-they-want-to-buy-and-run-cybercab-fleets/ Kirsten Korosec：https://techcrunch.com/author/kirsten-korosec/

OpenAI launches Astra, its powerful (and controversial) new model：https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/03/openai-launches-astra-its-powerful-and-controversial-new-model/ Lucas Ropek：https://techcrunch.com/author/lucas-ropek/

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